


Daughter of the Crossbow

by Vixenfall46



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Brother-Sister Relationships, F/F, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-25
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2018-05-03 07:40:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 32
Words: 93,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5282426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vixenfall46/pseuds/Vixenfall46
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alice, a ten-year-old girl on the verge of eleven, carries a machete. Her mother died giving birth and her father died when the apocalypse began. She has survived by herself in a town filled with walkers for two years. However, when she bumps into survivors at a gas station...everything changes. Her father's dead or so she thinks. What do these survivors have in store for Alice? [COMPLETE]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I already put this on other sites so, I didn't steal it! I also don't own any of the characters from the Walking Dead but, I do own Alice Dixon and three other characters.

 

 

             "Dad, I'm scared!" a little girl said from behind a man old enough to be her father. The girl was ten with straight brunette hair, eyes that held a dark field and wore a flannel plaid purple and gray shirt, blue jeans and black boots.

          She wasn't your typical little girl. Unlike the girls in her school, she liked the outdoors, hunting, camping, fishing, anything her dad could do she could do! He was just like her father in every way. Her favorite activities are wrestling and swimming in the lake.

            One of her most loved hobbies is hunting. Her father had gotten her a machete as a Christmas present. I told you she wasn't a typical little girl. The machete had engravings on it. It said _'To my beautiful little Ass Kicker, Love Dad'._ Her Grandma was livid when her father had done this. Mostly about her dad nicknaming her little Ass Kicker. She believed that parents aren't supposed to call children that.

         The machete was about to come in handy as on this day the dead decided to rise again and eat the living in order to survive. Once you are bitten by one of them and someone doesn't kill you, you become one of them or a meat pile for vultures. She and her Dad were trapped in the basement. They were huddled in a corner, blood was all over the man. A little blood was on the little girl. The man looks at the little girl and says in a hushed tone. 

          "Alice, ya see those basement doors over there?".

       She looked up and to the left of her. There were slivers of light shining through small doors. She looked back at him and nodded, terrified.

       "When I say, run... ya run!"He said in a hushed whisper.

     "What! But Dad I can't leave without ya!"Alice shouted. The banging got louder after this.

       "Ya have ta! The old park, ya remember the tree house behind, it, right?"

          Alice gave him another firm nod.

         "Okay, I'm gonna need ya ta hide in there and don't move until, I get there. Understood?" he asked.

         Once  again, she gave an affirmative gesture with her head. "But wait, what about ya?" she asked.

        He looks back towards the doors that were building inwards and then his daughter.

         "I'll be fine. Just get there safely and stay put!" After that statement, he hugged Alice and kissed her damp cheek.

        "Don't worry, we'll meet up again." He gave her a small smile which she matched.

        "I love ya." he mutters.

        "I love ya taa." Alice whimpered back.

       As the man trudged over to the door, the dead slapped it with more force than before. It seemed it would burst any minute, allowing them to waltz right in for chow time. Alice dragged herself  over to the storm doors. He held onto the handle of the door with one and his crossbow with his other then nodded, which was her cue to run. She burst through the doors and runs as fast as she could!

          She deplored running away instead of helping her Father, but she did what she told. She stopped because one of " _them_ ", for lack of a better word, was in front of her. These ' _things_ ' were no longer human..but..WHAT were they? It ran towards her and knocked her off her feet: knocked the breath right out of her. She caught its head just in time! As she held back this " _thing_ " with one hand,s he used her free hand to grab her machete. She stabbed the " _creature_ " as hard as she could through its head! Suddenly,t he " _thing_ " stopped moving. Alice opened her eyes wide. 

            _"Wh-what did I just do?"_ She thought frightened.

             She shakenly took her machete out of what had once been a head. Once she stood up she wondered if this was the only way to kill " _them_ " because when her father shot one of those " _things_ " I n the heart it didn't die. She saw an another one, it had been a kid, just about her age, now he _was one_ of the creatures. It had to be done! Even if it frightened her. She charged, slicing its head off but when she looked down she saw its jaws were still moving. She did the same thing as before.She jammed the sharp blade between its eyes! It stopped moving. She figured it out. Destroy the brain. Kill the  _creature!_

         She took a minute to look at the  _creature_. The flesh was rotting, it's eyes were rolled in the back of its head.One thing was for sure to Alice...she didn't want to become one of" _them_ "! She remembered that she was out in the open were " _they_ " could get her! She went back to running while killing some of " _them_ " along the way. Finally, she found a hotel but was filled with those  _creatures_.Nothing Alice couldn't handle! Dealing with ' _them_ ' took all day.

         She decided to stay in the hotel until it clears up more. Besides, it was one of those hotels that had a kitchen..and where there is a kitchen...there is food! Days later, she remembered that she was supposed to meet up with her father at the old park. Though when she went to the park...he wasn't there. She killed every walker(that's what Alice decided to call them.) to be sure that he wasn't hiding behind one of them. He wasn't behind any of the walkers. Alice assumed the worse...the walkers got to him. Alice made a pit stop at what Alice once called home. She killed a couple of the walkers. There, in her father's room was a picture of her mother and father. She took it with her to the hotel. Along the way, she grabbed some supplies. After she put the canned food and fruits in the mini-fridge and laid down in her bed and cried herself to sleep. She had lost everything and now, everyone. Her Father was dead........

 


	2. Chapter one

_Chapter One_

 

It has been two years since the Apocalypse happened. Alice is twelve years old now and still living in the hotel for shelter. She knows that one day this place might be invaded by walkers and would have to leave. Though, that hasn't happened yet so her biggest issue was food. She thought about this as she absorbs heat from the sheets underneath her. She was on the bed in room 205, staring up at the ceiling, reflecting on a life when times were normal.

Alice removed the covers as she sat up, she took a picture out of the nightstand drawer next to her bed. The picture was of two people, a man and a woman. They were dressed as if they had just had their wedding. The wife in a beautiful drift wedding dress and the husband in a tuxedo that doesn't really suit him all too well.

"Why did it have ta be ya?" Alice heard her own thoughts slip from her lips. 

The man and woman were her parents. Her father had died to try to protect her from the walkers. Her mother died giving birth to her.Alice had her mother's brunette hair, nose, full pretty pink lips, unique green eyes, and high cheekbones. What she inherited from her father was his natural tan skin and attitude. She closed her eyes, and let her memories begin, The father and daughter were laughing and sprinting through a field, playing tag.

 

_"Can't catch me!' She chanted._

_' 'Be careful with watcha say Little Ass Kicker!'' Her father replies with a sneer._

 

After that, the adult of the two picked her up and swung her around in circles. His hands hoisting her up from her legs and back. Alice bubbled out giggles from her chest. She had just about enough of the memory.

"Dammit! Why do I do this ta myself?!" She thought.

She opened her bright green eyes, they were filled with melancholy water.Two droplets leaked down onto the picture and quickly, she wiped the tears away from her eyes and picture.

"Be strong like Dad. Be strong like Dad. Be strong like Dad."Alice huffed shakily whiling clinching her fists onto the picture but, careful not to break it. Putting the picture back in the drawer, she went to the mini fridge and opened it. That's when she remembered that she needed more food. She grabbed her sash which, draped over her left shoulder and laid flat on across her semi-flat chest.

Her new womanly features were starting to peek through not much to Alice's liking. In fact, she did not like these changes at all.Especially the one that comes once a month. It attracts too many walkers to her. She also hated how her clothes hug her tightly almost everywhere, most aggravatingly her thighs. Her pants use to cut off at her ankles but now, they're up above the ankles.

Also, she hated how her shirt clings to her stomach and how her toes feel somewhat cramped as well in her boots. People would say for her to get new clothes but, every time she tries there are too many walkers for her to deal with!

She slipped her machete into one of the makeshift compartments of the green leather sash. She made the compartments out of whatever that was tiny and could hold anything. Like small pouches, pockets of jeans she found, and some random pieces of clothes she'd find laying around.

Where she was headed was a convenience store; not far from the hotel. She killed walkers along the way, careful not to make too much noise sound. Once she arrived near there, she hid behind a car, she looked around and noticed there is an unusual amount of walkers around the store.She has scavenged there multiple times however, there has never been this many before. One or two at the maximum but, three to four, something's up. Then it hit her. There might be survivors in there.She looked at the walkers again, she smirked.

"Three or four ain't so bad.". Alice crouched walked up behind the one of the walkers and sliced their Achilles' tendon. They plummeted to the ground in an instant. Once on the ground, Alice jumped up and shoved her weapon into the thick skull. It didn't take long for other walkers to notice her scent. She swiftly jammed the machete into the head of one of the walkers.

The impact of the machete and the head made a crunch sound, like celery breaking except more gruesome. She let the blackish goo flowed out onto her and the machete. She did this with the other ones and wasn't surprised she wasn't bitten. She tried to open the doors to the convenience store. It wouldn't open.She put her ear to the doors and heard walkers.

"Maybe, I imagined it?" Alice thought.

Just as she was about to leave for the gas station that was one and a half miles away, there was a scream.

 


	3. Chapter Two

 

She knew this city like the back of her hand. Her father took her with him whenever he would come into town for hunting season. She knows that there's a weapon shop up ahead beside Maple street. The convenient store on Wake Street. The gas station on Carry Street, etc.  After she heard the scream, she went around the back to the back door. Another walker was in front of it. 

      _"Don't these things have something else ta munch on?"_ Alice thought in annoyance. With no further questions, she killed the walker. With all of her might, she heaved the dumpster over to reveal that there was a key sleeping under it. Picking up the key, the brunette ran over to the door and slipped the key in the slot. She hesitated for a split second to grab her machete and opened the door fast once the door was unlocked. Nothing, which was both disappointing and a pleasant sight to see.  

             She stood still behind a wall with her back pressed against it, breathing through her nose softly so as not to disturb them. She peaked around the corner and saw two survivors. One older lady, maybe in her mid-thirties, and an either Asian or Korean man in his twenties. Alice couldn't tell from where she was but, from what she could see her best bet would be on Korean. 

         She knows how to identify Korean and Asian from each other because, a trio of Korean sisters rolled into her hotel for shelter and help. Of course, being the nice person that she is, she let them. They said after a while, they'd leave and continue finding their eldest brother, who happened to also be one of the girl's twin. She ended up learning a few tricks from the eldest sister before, she was bitten by a walker while, defending her and one of the other two siblings. The two other siblings were named Irina who, is Alice's age, and Noemi was six years old at the time.

           Since Irina and Noemi didn't know how to use a weapon of any kind because, her sister had not been able to teach them anything prior to her passing. Alice taught them both of them herself. While she 'trained' Irina, after she had gotten over her sister's death, she and her befriended one another. The two sisters stayed with her for a year until recently. They left to find where their older brother was. She hadn't seen them since which, saddened her exceedingly. Despite this, she and Irina made a deal to tell each other were alive. They would give a symbol made of a target and they're last initial inside it. Also, to take pictures of one another with Polaroids and tape it to where they last were. That way, if and when they ran into the other's families, they could show and tell them they saw them, giving their relatives hope.

               Anyhow, two walkers were with the lady and man, one kept the Korean occupied at the same time as another was on top of the woman. Without thinking, she barged into the scene, taking out the walker on top of the woman. She pierced the walker in the back of the head, careful not to stab the woman. Next, she dealt with the walker trying to take a bite out the guy. Once Alice was done, she finally got a good look at the two survivors. As predicted, the man was Korean with black hair, brown eyes, and tan skin. He was wearing a brown T-shirt, blue jeans, and a baseball cap. The lady had gray hair, pale skin, and blue-gray eyes. She was wearing a purple tank top and jeans. They both looked at her, stunned by her actions.

           "What? Haven't they seen someone kill a walker before? "Alice thought. 

        "Are ya okay?" Alice asked. The man spoke up, but words were a little shaky 

       "Y..yes...we're fine b..but are you okay?" He stammered in a question.

          "Uh yeah. Why?" Alice questioned. It was the lady spoke this time 

      "Honey... you just killed two walkers," she said with confusion smoothed in her voice. 

      "Plus the ones outside." Alice corrected her with a smirk. 

     "You weren't scared?" the man gawked. 

      "Ummm. Why would I be? It's not like I haven't seen them before." Alice asked. 

        "Well, it's just that you're a kid." The gray-haired woman butted in. 

         "And? Nowadays, kids don't really have an option. At least, that's how I look at this situation. " Alice said. "Anyway, what brings ya ta my town?". 

        "We were trying to find baby food and..." the lady's sentence was cut short by Alice. 

       "Baby food? Well, ya'll are in the wrong place. The place you're looking for is the gas station two or three miles up the road and if yer looking for guns and ammo, there is a weapon store on Maple street." Again, they were shocked. How did a little twelve-year-old girl know where all these places are?

         "You sure do know your way around here." the man said. 

       "Well, I did grow up here and my father was a hunter. He brought me with him in ta town during  hunting season. "Alice shrugged. 

       "Could you take us to this gas station?" the lady asked.

          "Sure a...?" Alice pause because she didn't know their names. 

            "I'm Glenn and this is Carol. "Glenn said. Alice put out her hand. As she did this she pondered,  

"Glenn...Glenn. That name sounds familiar. Where have I heard it from?"

            "Nice ta meet ya" she replied, holding out her hand. They shook her hand. Alice took them to the gas station, which took up most of the day. Alice would have to hurry because, midnight snacks are the walkers favorite part of the day. They arrive at the gas station. There was only one by the gas station. 

            "Wait here," Alice told them. She walked slowly towards a walker and killed it. Glenn and Carol observed from a distance. They were astonished by her techniques when she killed the walker. 

             "Where on earth did she learn that!?" Glenn whispered to Carol. 

           "I don't know, but she reminds me of someone." was all Carol said. 

           She motioned them to come over and they scurried over to her. Alice went ahead just in case there was a walker. Not that Glenn or Carol couldn't take care of the walkers themselves. It was just Alice had the feeling that was gnawing at her since she met them. There was this feeling deep within her that wanted her to stay with them. This was out of the norm for Alice because, she didn't really help other survivors often. They usually came to her hotel, rested a bit, then left. She only helped the sisters out because, they were in a sticky situation. Plus, they made an effort to actually connect with her. 

            The gas station had three aisles plus, the one in the back that had drinks in it. Alice had her own problem too with her storage of food and water, so she informed Glenn and Carol that she was going to the last aisle to get her own supplies. She also informed them that the baby stuff was in the third aisle. While Glenn and Carol look for what they needed, Glenn asked in a whisper, 

             "I got it! Is it just me or does she remind you a little of, oh I don't know, Daryl?". 

           "No, it's not just you," Carol replies as she picks up baby formula to look at. She glared and put it back in its place on the shelf. Glenn looks at where Alice went as Carol continued to look for the right baby food. 

           "I wondered where are her parents or her group?" Glenn wondered aloud. 

           "I don't know, but she is awful brave for twelve!" Carol commented. 

         "How do you know how old she is?" Glenn asked. Carol stopped her rummaging through the food 

             "Sophia would've been her age if she were alive still," said with eyes sparkling with sadness and pride creeping on her lips. 

           "Oh...right, sorry. I didn't mean to..."Glenn's rambling was stopped by Carol. 

        "No, it's fine. She just reminds me of her in a way.  I don't know, maybe it's the sweet and innocent touch to her.". As Carol spoke, she found the correct baby formal and put ten cans of it in the basket. Next, she spotted the jars of baby food. It didn't take her long before she found the one she was looking for like the formula did.

          "Maybe. After this, we'll take her back to her group. ". Glenn said. 

            "I wouldn't count on it," Alice commented carrying a basket and three bags. The basket where filled fruits and canned food, and the bags were filled with either water, champagne or beer. Yeah, she's a kid but, to Alice, there are no rules. She just wanted to see what all the commotion was...and she found it. She's not an alcoholic, but she does drinks. Her favorites are either champagne (red or white) and beer. 

          "H...how long have you been listening?" Carol asks.

        "Up ta where ya said I had an innocent touchta me. "Alice replies. "Thanks, by the way!" 

          "Sorry, we were talking about you. We were just curious. That's all." Glenn said worry dripped in his voice. Alice just laughed. 

         "Sorry? What for? Yahave every right ta question about a person ya just met. The one time I didn't question about that person. My Uncle left me here.". 

           "Your uncle! You mean he just left you here? In the city where the walkers could get you!" Carol exclaims. Shocked at how someone could leave one of their own, let alone a child out in the city where walkers could get her any minute! 

             "Yeah and I'm still pissed about that. I just wish that he would turn into a walker so that way, I wouldn't feel guilty about killing him." Alice was smiling an evil cat grin. Yeah, it's hateful for her to say this about her uncle but, she was not a fan of her uncle and a few months ago, proved just that.               

Few Months prior, Alice was on a food raid and wouldn't you know it. She finally sees someone she knew and loved, her Uncle Merle. She was crying tears of happiness as she galloped up to him. She called out to him, not caring if she attracted walkers. She thought to herself that just maybe she wouldn't go through this disaster by herself anymore. Then, right when she was in front of her Uncle, a man came out of nowhere and had a gun pointed right at her! She skidded to a halt.

        The man had brown hair, a blue shirt, and tan pants. Alice was scared, but she knew to hold her ground. He lowered his weapon when he realized she wasn't a walker. The man said to her Uncle,

        "Who is that?". 

     Her Uncle said, "That's my Niece.".

      The man looked at him with his eyebrows raised up in question and pointed at her, 

       "Your brother’s?” He asked

        He nodded. The man smiles and crouches down to her level. Already, she had a feeling she shouldn't trust this guy. 

        "Hi there, I'm the Governor of a town some little ways up. There are kids your age there. Would you like to come?". Alice gave it some thought before she replied, 

      "No thank ya." Alice may be many things but, stupid was not one of them. She wasn't going to go with someone she didn't trust, even if her uncle was with him. The Governor was rather puzzled by this.               

        "Well, why not? We have shelter, food, and safety. Walkers won't be able to get in." he reasoned. Hopefully, convincing her to come with. No child should be out here by themselves. This world was much too cruel and he knew it too. 

         Alice understood all of this too but, she wasn't just about to waltz into a stranger’s arms! She knew better not to. There was no way that she was going anywhere with a stranger she didn't trust however,she did not show her distrust in the other. 

       The Governor whispers to her Uncle, 

         "You're her Uncle. Why don't you try to convince her?"  

         "Alice, are ya sure ya don't wanna come with us? Ya'll be happier there." Her Uncle pleaded. 

            Alice still refused. She didn't care if there were kids her age, to live away from the walkers or being free! She was taught not to go with a strange and by god, she was sticking to that! 

        He frowned. He looked back at the Governor and shook his head. The Governor let out a huff. He had too many important things to do than to deal with this. He tilted his head to the left as if to say 'time to go. It's getting dark'. Uncle Merle starts to leave. Alice was confused, why is he leaving with him instead of staying with her? She runs up and grabs his arm,

       " Hey! What are ya doing? Where I take shelter is this way." Alice said while looking at the back to the hotel.

         "Look, Kid, ya didn't want ta come so, yer on ya own!" He said. He shoved her hand off his arm so hard, Alice almost lost balance. Alice was shocked! She couldn't move! She watched as they walked off to where ever they came from. 

         She waited there until a walker appeared. Out of instinct, she killed it and went back to the hotel, with hardly an upward glance. At first, she cried because she recognized she gave her hopes up too quickly, her Uncle abandoned her in a city filled with walkers, and she was alone once again. 

    Now, every time she hears about her Uncle her heart becomes colder and harder. Ever since then she hated her Uncle; wanting nothing to do with him. Alice remembered that Glenn and Carol were there. 

     "Oh...ehe-he. Sorry for sayin' that. It's just REALLY hate my Uncle!" Alice laughed embarrassed just in case she said something that might've made them uncomfortable. She had a tenancy of doing that when she talked about her uncle. 

  "Hey, I would hate my Uncle too if he did that to me," Glenn said. Alice looked outside. She noticed the sun was setting. It wouldn't be long until the walkers would want their midnight snack.


	4. Chapter Three

      "Well, we better get going before the walkers make a meal out of us!” Alice announced.

"Okay, we'll go back to our camp," Carol said.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. It's getting dark and ya don't want ta lure walkers back ta yer camp. Ya can stay with me tonight!" Alice said.

"Oh no, we couldn't..."Alice cut Glenn off.

"I mean unless ya want ta face the thousands of walkers heading this way, be my guest.". She shrugged, hoping that they wouldn't detect her reverse psychology.

After that, Glenn and Carol didn't have much of an option. They followed her back to the hotel. Once they were in the hotel. Alice decided to give them a little tour of her hotel. Of course, she fed them dinner because, she felt like being nice. Alice couldn't explain it but, she trusted them. She hadn't trusted a survivor before nor since, Jenny, Irina, and Noemi. She had no idea why she wanted to help Glenn and Carol, let alone why she was so excited about having the two around, but she liked it.

Their dinner was made up of fruits, beans, and champagne. The champagne was not just for Glenn and Carol, as one would suspect, however, it was for all three of them. For Glenn and Carol, the fact that Alice drank was strange but, it's not harming anyone so, they didn't bring the subject up. The noise was dead as they ate, leaving an awkward atmosphere. Once in a while, Glenn would look up from his plate at Alice from his plate with curiosity.

"Where were her parents or her group? " He pondered. "Is she really out here by herself? If so, how long has she survived out here by herself?" Alice seems to take notice,

"If yer still wondering where my group is. I don't have one.” Alice spoke up.

Glenn and Carol exchanged a look then look back at Alice. Although she did see her share of groups, they were from a distance or just stopped by for a while and left. She watched them scamper around from her windows of her hotel so, she knows a thing or two about groups. Though there was one group that she would absolutely not watch. Any group that is involved with the Governor because she hated him. She hated him for taking her uncle away from her and then had the nerve to try to take her hotel over to expand his precious town.

It was bad enough that Irina's sister died in there a few months prior to this event but, to try to take something that was Alice's only resort close to home that was safe was just insulting to her! If it hadn't been for Irina's sudden rage at the walkers and the Governor for killing her sister, she might not have her hotel today.

Alice showed them to their rooms which, weren't far from her own. She wanted to keep an eye on them in case walkers tried to break in.

"What about your parents?" Carol asked. Alice didn't like talking about her parents because well they were dead. It took a few minutes’ reply, but she summed up the courage to tell them.

"Dead," she spoke coldly. 

 "My apologies, I didn't-" Carol said.

"It's fine," Alice said with a smile. "Enough about me. Tell me about yer group. How many of ya are there?” She asked.

"Ten. Eight adults, one kid, and one baby.” Glenn said.

"What do ya do in this group?" she questioned.

"We take patrols day and night. We go on food raids.” Carol replied.

 _"They're like all the other groups. The ones that ain't with the Governor!"_  Alice thought bitterly.

"Where is yer group?" she inquired.

"At a prison, a couple miles away," Glenn answered.

"A couple miles away?" Alice pondered. Alice knew where the prison was and wondered why they were here when there was nearby town.

 “Not ta be rude but why this town? There's one closer ta it so, why this one?"

"Well, that town ran out of baby food. This one was the next closest to the prison." Carol explained.

"Oh, okay," Alice said in realization. After this, there wasn't much anyone had to say so they sat, in silence and continued eating their dinner "Well time ta go ta bed!" Alice announced with a yawn.

Glenn went to room 203, and Carol 204. Alice went to her room and went to sleep. Alice whimpered in her sleep. She was having an all too familiar nightmare about her dad. She was back in her house, in her basement with her dad. Though this time, she didn't flee. The walkers burst through the door. Alice went to help, but her feet were glued to the ground. When she was finally free, one of the walkers bit her father. All of the sudden the walkers disappeared and she ran over to him. Meanwhile, Carol and Glenn woke up to yelling, thinking Alice was being attacked by a walker. Once they reached her room, they found she wasn't being attacked but, having a nightmare. Carol, being the mother that she was, ran over to her to calm her down.

"Sweety...sweety! Wake up!” Carol yelled. Carol and Glenn heard Alice screaming and were frightened that walkers were attacking the hotel. Alice shot up out of her dream, looking around disoriented for a minute, then she saw Carol and Glenn. They both looked worried for her.

"Hey, are you okay?” Glenn asked.

"Y-yeah I'm fine. It was just a nightmare. Nightmares are normal for me. "Alice puffed. After she said that, she noticed that there was sunlight in her room. Was it morning? Alice always wondered why her nightmares seemed short but, in reality, they lasted all night.

"How long have you been having these nightmares?" Carol questions.

"After I lost my father and it didn't really help, I had ta kill my friend's sister after, she turned," Alice said sadly. 

Alice leaned over to the drawer beside her bed and opened it. She pulled out the picture of her parents from the small pile like, she had the day before, however, she didn't want to show her weak side in front of Glenn and Carol so, she did not cry. In order to do this, she had to repeat the same phrase she always had to this entire time in her head.

" _Be strong like Dad. Be strong like Dad. Be strong like Dad."_  she thought.

"W-What do you have there?” Glenn asked. Alice looked up at him. You could see the pain and sorrow in her emerald eyes. Carol wanted nothing more than to comfort the little girl in her arms.

"It's a picture of my parents." Alice sighed.

"May we see the picture?” Carol asked.

"Sure. I don't see the harm." Alice said, still looking down as she handed the picture. Glenn took it and they looked at it. Their expressions changed from concern to utter shock. There, in the picture was one of their own! A Beautiful young woman stood beside him. The face was unmistakable.... Daryl Dixon!

  



	5. Chapter Four

Glenn and Carol looked at each other then at Alice. They were standing in front of Daryl Dixon's daughter! The rough tough country boy that hardly shows any emotion has a DAUGHTER!

"Do you mind if we talk outside for a minute?"Just before Carol walked out of the room with Glenn, she inquired, "I'm sorry but, I don't think I caught your name." Carol stuttered, still taken back by the news that they had heard.

Alice's face brightened up and pride took residence in her lungs, threatening to explode from her chest.

"Alice...Alice Dixon and no I don't mind." Alice heaved out with a smirk planted on her face. Again leaving Glenn and Carol baffled. Glenn and Carol walk out into the hall,

"Holy shit! Daryl has a daughter!" Glenn let out a shocked gasp as if he had been holding his breath the entire time.

"Now, it makes sense why he would never give up on Sophia!" Carol said with a smile. She always knew something seemed odd about Daryl still trying to find Sophia when the others had given up. He had acted on parental instinct to find her! She knew he had a heart but, for him to be a parent made her heart smile for him.

There was an awkward silence between the two for what seemed like hours when Carol spoke in a questioning tone.

She had hoped Glenn would have the answer like he always does.

"What do we do?"

"You're asking me? This is insane!" Glenn said.

"We need to take her to Daryl! You remember what she said last night! She thinks he's dead! Which could possibly mean he also thinks she's dead !" Carol faltered more so Alice wouldn't hear them.

"Well yeah! Of course, we have to take her to him! She is his kid!" Glenn paused for a bit before asking,

"Should we tell her?". He asked.

"No!" Carol exclaimed, in a hushed whisper.

"No? Why not?" Glenn was more confused than ever.

"Because I have a plan! We convince her to come with us and surprise them both at the prison!" She explained.

"Like a surprise family reunion?" Glenn said as he raised an eyebrow. Thinking it was a bit odd if they just dropped this bomb on a girl they just met. Then, he thought about Daryl and how angry he would be if he found out they just left his daughter out here. Yeah, he decided he was not going to risk that.

"Yeah!" Carol smiled. "Then it's settled; she's coming with us!" she finished the secret conversation. There was just one flaw in their plan. Alice is stubborn as Daryl! How is this going to work?

They walk back into Alice's room, acting as if their conversation never happened.

"Hey, Alice!" Glenn chirped with his hands in his pockets. "So, we were talking and we were wondering if you would like to come with us?". Alice looked at them with a mixture of shock and confusion in her eyes. She studied his eyes for a second then glanced at Carol for any signs this might be a trick. The last adult that wanted her to go with him made her uncle abandon her in the city full of walkers.

"W..what? Why?"Alice asked.

"Because this is no place for a child. It's not safe and..." Carol paused as she searched for another reason for Alice to come with. As if Glenn read her mind, he butted in with.

"We think your skills will be useful in our group!" He boasted to Alice. However, he wasn't lying. Alice did have skills that their group could use.

"Plus, we have a little surprise for you back at our group."Carol smiled. Alice sat there for a minute unsure how to answer.

" A surprise huh? I'm not usually a fan of surprises but, eh it can't be that bad. I mean Irina was full of them and they weren't that severe!"She thought with a smirk.

"Alright, just let me get my things and the food." she announced.

Glenn and Carol were actually surprised that their plan had worked at all! Their hearts let out a silent cheer of victory.

 

The three of them spent a few minutes cleaning out the food and medical supplies into a car that they found. Alice didn't really have many things so packing everything was easy. Alice got the pictures and food while, Carol and Glenn their baby formula/food, and some sheets from the hotel.

Once they loaded everything into the car, Alice took one last look at the hotel. She sure was going to miss that place. So many memories in such a short time you would think it had been centuries. It had been her home, as it were.

Then, they got into places in the car which was gray SUV with clear windows, and black cloth covered seats. Glenn took the driver, Carol was in the passenger seat, and Alice was in the backseat. She looked out the window. She loved the window seats in almost any vehicle because she liked watching the world go by. But before the world ended, she would zone out thinking about life, stories she just her, and other things like that. She did that the entire drive to where ever they were going. She thought about her father and all the wondrous things they had done together. She and her father were very close. They spent every minute with each other before the world went to shit. How she missed those times.

What she hadn't noticed was that Glenn was talking to her about something. It was only when he said the Governor did Alice jolted out of her state.

"How do ya know the Governor!?" Alice asked in shocked but mostly in anger.

"How do  _you_ know the Governor?."Glenn mimicked her shock value.

"I asked ya first." Alice retorted.

Glenn waited a minute before speaking again,"Long story short, he's just caused some trouble for us." he explained.

Alice wanted to know exactly what the Governor did but, she pretty much got the message. Since the first, and second encounter she already knew he was nothing but, trouble.

"What did he do?" Glenn asked Alice, noting the anger in her voice. The Governor clearly did something, in order to get Alice this anguished. Carol took note that her redneck accent thickens when she's angry, it was kinda adorable.

Alice sneered, she always loved telling this story!

"Well, I was on a food run, and I see my Uncle Merle, as much as I hate ta call 'im that." She scuffed out the last part herself. " I thought that finally I wouldn't be alone so, I ran up ta 'im." She continued. " Turns out he wasn't alone and the Governor came out with a gun at my face! He must have thought I was a walker.

      Uncle Merle tells 'im that I'm his Niece. Then, the Governor asked if I wanted ta join him. I refused. After that, Uncle Merle asked if I wanted ta join! Again I refused. They started ta leave after that. At first, I was confused because he was leavin' with the Governor and not stayin' with me! I stopped him, asked 'im what he was doin', my shelter is that way and ya know what he said ta me... _' yer on ya own!'._ After that, he walks away as if I didn't even exist! "Alice said in a raging rant. Disgust reeked in her voice.

After listening to Alice rant on, Glenn and Carol began to feel enraged by Merle's actions. They also felt slightly afraid for the older Dixon because, they knew Daryl wouldn't let this go by unscathed.

It was a long drive, but again Alice didn't mind. As they drove closer to their destination, Alice felt uneasy. Glenn and Carol had a group and Alice seriously doubted that their group would be open with arms.

"More like ammunition." Alice thought.

Finally, they arrived at the camp, which was more of a prison with double gates and two, four-story watch towers that were once used to make sure convicts stayed in.

It wasn't long until someone opened the gates for them. The person had been a huge black man with a beard, and a gray shirt with long sleeves. Glenn stopped the car after, from what Alice assumes are members from the group close the gates.

Alice saw a couple of people, one might have been a sheriff judging by the gun that was strapped to his belt, two kids around her age, a black woman, who has the coolest sword Alice has ever seen! A brunette woman helping an old man on crutches. She noted that one of the man's legs was missing.

"I wondered where it went?" Alice pondered.

Glenn said with a goofy grin, "Wait here!"

Alice turned her to watch Glenn leave the SUV,

"What are these two up taa?" Alice wondered quietly.

"You're going to love it here!" Carol chanted. Alice drew her attention to Carol as she went on about the group and such.

Glenn walked up to Rick and asked, "Where's Daryl? It's important!". Before the cop could speak and a redneck's voice answers for him.

"Right here!" Daryl said. Daryl was wearing a gray sleeveless shirt and blue jeans. He had a crossbow strapped to his back.

"What's so important?". He inquired.

"Well, we have a gift for you," Glenn said still holding that goofy grin. Daryl raised an eyebrow at his friend before he spoke again,

" Gifts? I don't do gifts.".

Glenn just rolled his eyes,"Well, you'll like this one." he reasoned. he turned around and motioned Alice and Carol to come out.

"Are you ready?"Carol asked.

"I guess," Alice said still unsure if this group thing was a good idea. She had never been in a group before. She's had a few people stay at her hotel for a bit but, that was different. They always left once they had everything they needed.

Opening the car door, Alice is brought back to the moment. The sunlight kissed her face. The wind combed her brunette hair. She looked over to her left and she saw a sight that she thought could only be seen in her picture.

"D-Dad?". She gasped.


	6. Chapter Five

Daryl couldn't believe it! There, standing a few feet in front of him, was his own daughter! He thought she was dead this entire time! When he went to the park after he dealt with the walkers, there was a walker on the ground that looked just like her with its head sliced opened. He assumed the worst! He was never happier to be proven wrong in his life! She's alive and here!  His daughter survived all those walkers. He should have known. 

All of the sudden, Alice, his beautiful daughter, started to run right up to him. He ran towards her. They finally met each other halfway and they hugged like they never hugged before! They were finally together again after two whole years! During this moment, Daryl was crying tears of happiness! He placed a kiss upon the top of her head, and stroked her hair. Alice spoke up in a sarcastic tone,

"Dad, yer crushing me.". Daryl just laughed and let go. Clearing his face of tears and pulling himself together, he faced the group with Alice by his side 

"Hey, Everyone! I would like ya ta meet my daughter, Alice!" Daryl said overjoyed. He didn't care if it wasn't like him to act all happy. He just got his daughter back and he was going to show her off.

 "What's all the ruckus about?" An all-too-familiar voice interrupted the moment. When he saw Alice, he froze, his blood had never been so cold until this moment. His face displayed complete surprise and more than a little fear. Merle didn't know what to do! He was looking at a child that he was convinced was long gone! 

 Glenn and Carol took a few steps back, they saw this coming and it was about to get ugly really fast. In one swift motion, she instinctively grabbed her machete from behind her back and wielded it at her side, ready for an attack. His hand may have been missing, but there was no mistaking this face! Merle Dixon. The Uncle that left Alice to die. Alice's bottled anger just shattered at this very sight. She let everything out from that bottle, forgetting her father was even there. If she had self-control for what was about to happen, she would've asked to say what she was about to say first.

 "Ya.....YA SON OF A BITCH! YA LEFT ME IN THE FUCKIN' CITY TA DIE!" her accent thickened again once she shouted this. Alice started to sprint at Merle but in one quick instant, she felt her machete ripped from her grasp. Then, Alice felt an unfamiliar grip hat made her feel like she was going to snap in two, around her waist. She kicked and bucked in response to this. "I'LL FUCKIN' MURDER YA!" She heard a soft but very serious voice whisper in her ear,

" Not now, Little One! This is not your battle! Later!". Alice paused for a second, she looked all around her, she notices that the sheriff had his hand over his gun with a look in his eyes that wanted to kill Merle. The old man and the brunette were furious as well as Glenn and Carol, however, the Korean and older women had an all-knowing twinkle within their eyes, too. Her attention drew to over to her father staring at his brother in disbelief. Silence cut the air like a knife. Alice smirked and calmed down as she realized she was no longer alone. "But, I guess it's excused. After all, ya were the Governor's _Lassie_."Alice said with a snark like a smirk. 

 "Michonne... get the kids inside! Now!" The sheriff said. After that, Alice didn't hear anything as she was dragged into the prison. Daryl was now was standing in front of his brother. They were sizing each other up. It was clear, by the silence and the look on Daryl's face, that Merle wasn't going to like this.

 "N...Now b...brother, I know it sounds bad, but she wouldn't come with me! I wasn't about ta force her either" Merle tripped over his words. As Merle spoke, Daryl pulled out his crossbow and pointed it right at Merle. While Merle continues to explain his actions, he doesn't even notice the developing fire within his younger brother, as every word just made Daryl's rage deepen. Finally, it's Daryl's turn to speak. He stared deep into his brother's eyes, never lowering his gaze, he says all he has to say, with one simple word,

"RUN!" he growled.

"Oh come on now, Baby brother! Don't be like!"Merle pleaded. 

 "Don't be like that?!" Daryl's teeth bared as he held on tighter to his crossbow with the iratest disbelief that crawled through his throat and out of his mouth."How can I be not like this! Ya left _my daughter_ in the city and ya know how dangerous it is! Outta all the bullshit ya've done, this tops all of th'm! How could ya do that ta her! She's my daughter, my only child! Yer fuckin' Niece! What kind of Uncle are ya or for that matter what kind of brother are ya! No, ya know what, ya have til 10,9..." 

"Wait, wait! Let's talk about this little brother!" Merle pleaded.

"8....7, Ya gettin' more of a chance than ya did my daughter!" Daryl growled once more, if possible, more threatening than the one before ."6...5.". As Daryl counted down, Rick started running towards the gates getting ready to open it. He has a kid of his own so, he knows you never leave another man's kid behind! "4.." Daryl's growl got louder as it got closer to one.

"Ya can't just leave me out there with the walkers!"Merle yelled. 

"I damn sure can! 3!" Daryl replied.

 Rick tells Glenn to take the gates. Glenn knows he has his reasons, he would do the same for his sisters. He takes them as Rick ran back to the two Dixon brothers, stepping between Daryl and Merle. He faced Merle with his hand on his gun, he leans slightly forward and warned him in a hushed tone,

 "I wouldn't take him lightly. If you want to live I suggest you start walkin' .". Rick tried to hide his anger to keep things a little civil, but it didn't come out that way. Merle knew he had been defeated, he heads for the gates. Before, Merle leaves he turns around and faces his younger brother.

"This ain't over! I'll be back before ya know it!". Glenn opened the gates and Merle walks out. Glenn quickly shuts the gates, fighting the urge to slam them. Carol immediately goes to Daryl to comfort him. Daryl looks at her and said bitterly, 

"Ya were right. He's no good ."As much as Carol was glad she was right, she was also sad. Truth be told, she didn't want to be right. Carol suddenly remembered Alice,

"Hey! Merle may be gone, but there is someone who needs more attention than he does!" She said in a motherly manner. Daryl was confused. Who was she talking about? Then he remembered....his Daughter was back! 

 "Alice! Where is she!" Daryl said with a little panic seeping into his words. 

Carol laughs "She's fine! She's in the prison.". Before, Daryl left he called Glenn over.

 "Where did ya guys find her!?"Daryl asked. 

"In a hotel, a few miles from here," Glenn said.

 "Did she have a group?". They shook their heads in reply. Daryl was shocked, his Daughter was out in the city, alone! A grown man was most likely to die within a few hours if he was by himself. He couldn't imagine a little girl. Let alone, his daughter out on her own.

"How did she survive?" Daryl wondered.


	7. Chapter Six

"Hey!" Daryl called after Glenn and Carol as they were leaving him alone with his thoughts. As they turn to look at him, Daryl, looking at the ground, like a child, said "Thanks for bringing Alice home."

"No problem," Glen replied, as he and Carol made it into the prison, Daryl stands out in the prison yard, facing thousands of walkers, wondering...what was going to happen to his brother. Daryl scurried into the prison as well. Not wanting to wait to see his Daughter anymore!

"I wonder what cell block she's in?" Daryl wondered.

He remembered that Michonne took the kids in the prison before things got out of hand. He'll have to thank her for that.

Alice was happy and a little disappointed as well. She was more than happy that her father was actually alive! The only reason she was disappointed was because, she wanted to see her Father go off on her Uncle! She knew if she didn't kill him then, her father would have.

The kids were in prison block B, Alice was sitting on the lower bunk of a bunk bed. Her foot tapped on the ground periodically, waiting for her dad to return to her.

"Hey. What's your name?" a boy said. He had jet black hair, with a hint of brown in it, and pale skin. He was wearing a gray shirt, charcoal  jeans with a gun attached to a belt holding them up, and a sheriff 's hat.

"Must be the sheriff's son." Alice thought. She hesitates for a second,"Alice. Ya?" Alice said as she held out her hand.

"Carl, Carl Grimes, and that's Elizabeth Greene, Beth for short," Carl said then shook her hand.

Beth Greene had wavy blonde hair, pale, caprices, and a green short-sleeved blouse. She seemed a little quiet, though. Alice couldn't help it,

"So, ya the sheriff around these parts?" she couldn't resist taking that shot. Surprised by her humor, Beth actually chimed in,

"Don't ask him. He would be if he could." She smiled at Alice and Carl just gave her one of his sideways glances but couldn't help giggling himself!

"Did Merle really leave you in the city to die? "Carl asked.

"Yeah." was all Alice could say.

"What an asshole! I mean, sorry.... that sucks." Carl changed the subject, quickly, "You...uh... wanna go check out the prison? There's a lot of cool stuff around here."

"Sure! Let's go! Oh, and yer right. He's an asshole!" Alice said after she stood up and wiped out her machete.

"You don't really need that," Carl said.

"Never leave without it! Ya never knows when a walker might pop up." Alice said.

"Yeah, I know but I have this. Besides you need my protection." Carl said as he pulled out his gun from his belt with a twirl only for it fly out of his hand, up in the air, and land on his head. Alice and Beth laughed at his antics while, Carl felt blood gush up into his cheeks. He couldn't tell if it was out of embarrassment or the fact that Alice's laughter sounded like a lullaby to him. It didn't help that he thought she was cute as well.

"Yes, because, yer butter fingers will save the day." Alice snickered.

Before they headed out, Beth calls out to them,

"Hey wait!"

They turn around, confused to her actions.

"What about your father?" she asked.

"Aw shit, that's right!" Alice let out a realization gasp. She thought over a minute before speaking finally. "Um, could ya tell my father, I'll be right back? Unless....did ya want ta come along?"

"Yeah, no. I'll look after Judith and tell your Dad." Beth replied.

"Thanks, Beth!" Alice hollered as she and Carl walked out of the cell.

On their way, Alice asked Carl, "Whose Judith?" 

"My baby sister. She was born about a few months ago." He replied.

"Oh. " She responded.

Although Carl leads the way, Alice was the true leader, ready to attack anything not human. They were in the basement, roaming the halls. To Alice, it was too quiet.... at any moment a walker would jump out of one of these doors. Besides her edginess, she was actually relaxed. That's when she realized something; that feeling was gone.

Alice's deep thoughts were cut short when a walker without warning appeared. It whipped Carl off his feet to the concrete floor. His gun flew out of his hand. Without a second thought, Alice took action, her machete instinctively impacted into the walker's head. It never had the chance to him. Carl flipped over, pushing the walker off in the processes. Alice's flannel plaid shirt was cover in blood.

She walked over to Carl's gun and kicked over to him.

"I'm sorry but who needs protection again?" Alice said looking down at Carl.

" Oh Hardy har har, cowgirl." Carl grinned.

Alice didn't mind him calling her that; most of her friends called her cowgirl before all this due to her living in the country. Alice helps Carl up off the ground. They decide that was enough exploring for one day and settled on going back to the cell block. Alice didn't show it, but she was excited. She couldn't wait to see her father's face again! When she saw her father she thought it was one of her wishful dreams again. That is until Merle showed up. Merle is never in her dreams, not even in her nightmares! Alice couldn't help but wonder if Merle was still in the prison.

Finally, they had arrived back at the cell and there he was. Her father sitting on the bed waiting for her. He was filthy, scrubby and still a sight for sore eyes! She missed him so much! He could have been covered in mud, lost all of his hair and teeth and he would STILL be perfect! 

They had a lot to talk about!                                                 

 


	8. Chapter Seven

Daryl began, "How? What? I mean..How?" And there it was..out in the open! The question...Daryl didn't stop and neither did Alice with her smiling. She was quite amused when her dad said "Yer only ten!".

 It was Alice's turn to speak, she was still smiling "Dad...I'm yer kid and I'm Twelve now.". 

Daryl was shocked... Had it been two years already! 

"Alright then, let's start with how did ya survive? How did ya survive all the walkers?" Daryl exclaimed. "I saw ya as a walker!"

This confused as majorly," What? No, am not a walker."She giggled.

"Well, yeah I know that but, I thought I did. If I had known ya hid, I wouldn't have left ya. I should've gone back fer ya. "Daryl said with angst pooling in his words. He wanted to add, I'm sorry in there but, his pride couldn't utter the words for him.He hugged his daughter 

"I'm glad yer back!" he said. That's when he saw something sparkling within her sash.

"Hey, Alice what's that in yer sash?" He inquired.

Alice was confused for a minute then, remembered she had her machete.

"Oh, it's my machete," Alice said as she unsheathed her machete and handed it to Daryl. Daryl didn't recognize it at first, but then he saw the engravings...'to my beautiful little Ass Kicker, Love Dad'. Daryl felt a lump in his throat...she kept it this whole time.

Suddenly, Daryl had hugged his daughter for the third time that day. Alice was shocked by his actions but melted into the hug. She was glad too that he was back. Even though the world has gone to complete hell...Alice never felt more alive!

Alice didn't need to wonder how her dad survived. He was a hunter for Pete sake! She should have known he survived all this. 

This was all well and good but, Alice can’t help but let one thought gallop in her mind, what happens now? There was no need to mourn for her father; HE’S ALIVE! She only killed walkers for a hobby to distract her from thinking about her dad and Irina is back in the warehouse near her old town so, she couldn’t just go over to her place to check on them. Next,

she remembered Merle. She pulls out of the hug and asked in more villainous tone than she had intended it to be. 

"Where's Uncle Merle?"  

"Don't worry about it. He left.” Daryl explained. 

"He just left? “Alice inquired. She knew her uncle all too well and she knew he wouldn't leave just like that.

"We helped him," Daryl smirked.

A smile formed on Alice's lips. She knew exactly how Daryl 'helped' Merle leave,

she knew her father best. 

"Wished I could've seen it, dad!" Alice said. Daryl chuckled, he out his arm around her shoulder. 

"Come on. Let's go see the others," he announced. 

She already knew Glenn, Carol, and Carl. Alice learned that the brunette was named Maggie Greene, Glenn's wife. 

        She noticed something different about Carol. She would look at her father like Maggie looked at Glenn.

She had already taken a liking to the black woman with the wicked sword, whom Alice learned was Michonne.

The sheriff was Rick; he was the leader of the group. The old man with one leg and on crutches was

Hershel Greene, Maggie, and Beth's father. Also, the doctor of the group.

The black man with the beard and beanie? He was Tyresse. He also had a sister named Sasha, as well as a girlfriend, named, Karen.

Alice looked at the group like one big family. Glenn was probably like an Uncle,

Maggie like an Aunt so would be Michonne, Hershel would be the wise Grandpa,

Alice wasn't sure yet, what Rick would be, and Carol like...like a Mother. Alice

didn't know her mom since she died in childbirth, but Daryl had kept her memory alive, for Alice.

Her father spoke of her a lot and kept pictures of her everywhere. Alice missed those pictures. They were all she had of a whole family.

Carol being a motherly type of figure wasn't a bad idea.

She saw how close Carol and her dad were. She also took note of her dad's smile when he saw her. Alice could tell that they liked each other a lot. Next, she went back to thinking about who was who in this odd little family. Beth was like an older sister. Unsure about Carl. Something about him seemed interesting. She wasn't sure if it was the deep blue eyes that she found herself getting lost in or how protective he was over everyone and everything. Whatever it is, she kind of liked it. 

About a week or so later, as she had finished her shower, her flannel shirt had been replaced with black T-shirt and a light stormy colored cover.

    Her blue jeans were substituted with olive green skinny jeans and her boots were swapped with charcoal boots complete with laces.  Alice was going through her polaroid pictures again.

She wondered if Irina and Noemi were doing okay. Last time she saw them was when they left to find her brother.

Oh, how she missed them all. She managed to find the one picture with Irina, Noemi, Jenny, and some other guy.

The guy was holding a baseball bat across the three girls in a joking protective manner. The other eldest sibling grabbed the

Another end of the bat, trapping two younger girls.

Suddenly, Alice took note of something in the photo. The guy had a pizza uniform and a baseball cap.

“Wait a minute, this guy looks Korean...and is wearing the baseball cap. Could it be who I think this is? I think-” 

Alice’s pondering came to a brief halt when she heard a little

 _'ting, ting'_ on the cell's bars. She looked over to see Glenn standing in the doorway of her cell block with a

confused expression on her face. Before he could even ask what was wrong, Alice broke her own silence.

“Is....is this ya?” She asked as she handed him the picture.

Glenn takes the picture from Alice and his face contorts into utter shock.

He hasn’t this picture in years!

“Alice, where did you get this?” He breathed. Alice gulped, how was she going to tell him about Jenny!

She was bitten and she had to take her out after she turned! She just couldn't tell him one of his sisters is dead!  If this was who she thought it was,

 _“I know! I just say one of his sisters gave it ta me! I wouldn't be lying!”_ Alice came to a conclusion. 

“Someone gave it ta me awhile back, saying they were looking for their brother,” She explained. 

Glenn stared intensely at the picture for the longest of time before replying to Alice, “Are they still alive? “He asked. 

 _“Shit! he asked the question!”_ Alice thought, panic swirled throughout her head to her throat. 

“Yes.” Alice hesitated as truth and lie controlled her tongue.

If it was possible, Glenn ran a hand through his silky black hair. His mouth suddenly lifted into a smile that mimicked a Cheshire cat's.

Alice thought he was going to cry but, instead he just laughed. After what seemed like an extremely long awkward moment,

Glenn returned to his previous serious state.

“I have to find my sisters.” He gasped.  Before he could run off to wherever, Alice

Stuttered, "G-Glenn, wait a minute!” 

“What?” He asked a bit impatiently. 

Once more, Alice’s tongue was tied before she spoke, 

“Ya…ya don’t know how ta find them!” She explained. It wasn’t a lie. There was a certain way to find out if the sisters were alive. 

Glenn’s eyebrows knitted together at this statement, “What do you mean by  that?”  he inquired.

“Well, um…there’s a symbol we shared ta tell each other we were alive” Alice replied.

“Well, you want to come with?” Glenn said as he formed as plan within his head. If she goes with, it’ll be easier to find his sisters. 

“U-um sure.” Alice played the most convincing smile she has ever taped on. After that, he ran out of her cell block once more

to probably gather people up to go with him. Alice knows she should be happy for Glenn however;

the truth is keeping her from leaping in a joyous victory.


	9. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

 

For the past few hours, she helped Carl with killing walkers clawing at the metal fences, she’s been trying to figure out ways to tell Glenn about what happened. To no avail. None of the scenarios she came up with seemed to work but...

“Hey, you alright?” she heard a now familiar voice shatter her thoughts. Carl must have noticed something was on Alice’s mind.

“U-uh y-yeah I’m fine,” She replied, hoping to persuade him into believing that.

“You’re lying,” he answered right before, Alice swung her machete to a walker’s head. “What’s wrong?”

Alice bit her lip, “Have ya ever had ta tell someone one of their family members was dead?” she asked.

Carl gawked at her for a minute, “Yes but, I didn’t really say anything to him. I just looked at him and he knew.” He explained.

“Oh…” Alice trailed off. “If ya don’t mind, who died?”

It took a minute for Carl to respond, finally, he came up with one, “My mother. She died giving birth to Judith. I...” Carl swallowed the lump in his throat. “I had to shoot her before she turned. She wanted me to. I was pretty messed up for awhile after.”

Alice didn’t know what to say. She never had to do anything of the sort with her family and didn’t want to.

“I already told my dad about her but, I don’t know what to do about Judith. What if she asks about her mother? What then?” He requested.

 _“Wow, déjà-vu.”_ Alice thought. This wasn’t the first time she had to comfort someone who was mourning over a loved one. Irina mourned over Jenny for quite some time. She even asked the same thing Carl was asking her now, except it was about Jenny and Noemi. This was all too familiar.

“W-well, ya could just tell her flat out. Like my father did with me.” She suggested.

Carl looked over at her in surprise, “Your mother died giving birth to you?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Alice said flatly.

“Doesn’t that bother you?” Carl questioned.

Alice thought it about for a minute. She never really thought about her mother.  She always thought it was sad her mother died giving her life but, she barely knew her. All she knew was what her father told.

“Not really. Other than what my father has told me, I don’t know much about her.” She clarified.

“Well, what did he tell you?” Carl asked.

“That I was like her the most. I had her smarts, her laugh, and her looks.” She elucidated.

 _“Wow, her mother must’ve been very pretty if she looks just like her._ ” Carl believed with a smile. His cheeks heated up at this thought as well.

“H-huh?” Alice stammered.

Carl’s eyes widen, had he spoken his thought aloud and not known it? He had to say something quick.

“U-uh, y-your mother! She must’ve been pretty, right?”  he questioned anxiously, stabbing his knife within the walker’s head and swiftly pulled it out.

Alice’s eyebrows frowned upon this, taken aback by the compliment she knows he just gave her. She’s never been good with people giving her compliments. Never when Irina did it, never when Jenny did and certainly not from Carl. It didn’t help that she thought he was handsome for a boy his age.  She also liked

how he wasn’t immature like the other boys were back when she was younger. Then again, she hasn’t been around any boys since the apocalypse started so, she didn't have much of a comparison. 

“U-um y-yeah I guess?” she stammered, pink painting onto her cheeks, layer by layer. She quickly jammed her machete into a walker’s skull to her mind off it.

“Soooo uuh.” Carl trailed off trying to find another subject to change it to. Next, he remembered Alice mention something about telling someone their family member was dead. Carl pondered for a minute until he came to a conclusion that she had to kill someone. Either after they got bit or they were trying to kill her. That or out of cold blood and he hoped like hell that it wasn’t that.

“Who did you have to kill and why?” He asked, curious of what had happened.

Alice paused for a minute, then sighed before, she spoke, “Her name was Jenny Rhee.”

“Rhee? As in?” Carl trailed off.

“As in Glenn? Yes.” She said dreadfully.

“Who was she to him?” He asked.

Alice hesitated, “She was his twin sister. She and her younger sisters came inta the hotel I was staying at. They were running away from someone called the Governor, perhaps ya heard of him.”

Carl just nodded. He has heard of him and from what he’s heard, he doesn’t like him.

“Why were they running from him?” He requested.

“From what Jenny told me, he kept walker heads in thousands of fish tanks and his walker daughter locked in a cage behind his office,” She explained with disgust in her voice.

“Are you serious?!” Carl gawked.

“Shit ya not,” Alice stated, wedging her blade into another walker’s head.

“I’m guessing no one in that town knows that, do they?” He asked as he walked over to get more walkers on the left side.

“Nope,” She commented as she followed him.

“That’s just sick!” Carl growled.  The repulsive thought clenched his fingers tightly onto the handle of his knife. “Walkers are meant to be killed!”

“Agreed. Anyway- “Alice continued telling the story about what happened to Jenny while, they hacked away at some walkers along the way.

 “I’m sorry that happened,” He said.

“Nah, don’t be. Ya didn’t cause it.” Alice replied with a small smile.

“I know,” He told her.  He looked at walkers, the dust on his shoes, then back at her as he planned out what to say next. Carl’s heard many stories like this from thousands of people but, he’s still wasn’t use to it.  He was stunned and distraught by the tale Alice just spoke of.  He honestly didn’t know what to think. If anyone else was receiving the information, he’d able to give her advice. However, this is Glenn they were talking about and his sisters! However, he had to say something. She did go to him to for advice.

“How many walkers have you killed?” He asked.

Alice glanced at him with the most, ' you’re joking right?’, face.

“Ya expected me ta keep track of that?” She asked.

“Just answer the question,” He said.

Alice thought back on it, “Yeah no, taa many ta count.”

Carl nodded in return “How many people have you killed?” he inquired.

Alice paused a minute then responded with,” Does someone that just turned count?”

“No” Carl answered.

“Then, none.” she replied.

“If you can answer these questions with no problem, then you can tell him.” Carl comforted.  After that, he chopped his knife in whatever walker’s head was there.

“Why don’t you ask Carol? She’s better at this than I am.” He cogitated.

“But, what about them?” Alice asked. As she pointed at them, as if on cue, they moaned and groaned at them. 

“Go ask Beth to take over your shift. I’m sure she’ll cover for you.”  He Indicated.

“Alright!” Alice answered, hacking her last walker before walking off to find Beth.

“Hey, Alice!” Carl calls out to her, making the walker choir sing louder. 

Alice whips around, “Yeah?” She responded.

“I would’ve done the same,” He stated, hoping it was better advice than he had previously given her.

Alice beamed a smile at him, “Thanks, City Boy.”  Then she went off find Beth.


	10. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

 

After finding Beth, who was with her father, and asking her to take over her shift, Alice went to go find Carol. Beth said that Carol was in one of the watch towers. She got lucky that the first one she checked turned out to be the right one. Carol was wearing a green blouse with blue jeans and black boots. The gun that she was holding was a sniper rifle.

Carol must have heard her because, she turned around when Alice came up.

“Hi, Alice! Care to join me?” She smiled.

“Uh, Thanks but, no. I-I just need ta talk ta someone. “She replied.

Carol’s smile whisked away with the wind when Alice said this.

“What’s wrong?” She asked.

“Have ya heard Glenn talk about his sisters?” She asked, already knowing her answer.

“He’s mentioned them. Why do you ask?” Carol’s curiosity was getting the best of her.

Alice got quiet, for a second, as she seemed to choose her words, carefully. “He knows they survived, right?”

“Yes. And?” Carol seemed to be preparing for the worst.

“If ya knew something had happened, would ya tell him?” Alice asked, with hardly a glance.

“You mean they aren’t alive?” Carol asked, clearly affected by the thought.

“Well, yes and no. What I’m sayin’ is two of them were when I saw them last.” Alice continued, quickly, while she had the nerve. “Jenny, well, ya see, she was like…she took care of all of us, sort of. I mean, she would never let anything bad happen ta any of us.”

“I see.” Carol interrupted. “She was protective just like Glenn.”

“RIGHT! YES! Just like that! And, well, she led ‘em away from us. Walkers, I mean. Jenny and ‘em were hiding from the Governor when they met me. P-people from the Governor’s group made ta much noise while on a run; and then there were walkers and…and then Jenny was makin’ noise, bangin’ things, leadin’ ‘em away from us! And, um..we got away and  back ta the hotel. Jenny was already there, but….” Her voice trailed off, to a quiet hush. “She showed us the bite. She didn’t want us ta worry but how could we not? We all knew what had ta be done but, she wanted us ta decide when. Irina couldn’t do because, she was ta upset and Jenny didn’t want Noemi ta do it at all. We couldn’t…not until we were sure she turned. She wasn’t Jenny anymore! Glenn is gonna  hate me!” She exclaimed.

“No, honey,” Carol said, reassuringly. “Glenn will be upset and it’s understandable, but we have all been there. No one would blame you. But you have to tell him. The sooner the better. “

“B-but, how am I going ta tell ‘im?” Alice inquired. “He was so happy about ‘em bein’ alive and fer me ta just go in there and tell him that one of his sisters isn't alive! Would kill im!”

Carol wrapped her arms around the panicked child in front of her.

“Okay, Okay. Shh! Just breathe!” She soothed. 

Next, she unraveled herself from Alice, gripped  her shoulders, and spoke again,

“You want me to go with you?”

Alice thought for a second, “Yeah, that might work. Thanks.” She nodded.

Soon after Carol’s shift was over, they slowly made their way to tell Glenn, who was talking to Daryl about joining the run to find his sisters tomorrow. He had agreed and walked off to take the night shift. Glenn had just found his daughter and brought her to him! It would only be fair if he did the same for him and his family and besides, Daryl was kind of starting to like this kid.

As they approached Glenn, Alice’s pulse deafened her ears. Glenn smiled when he saw them,

“Hey, Alice! Hey, Carol! What’s with the long faces? You look like someone just died” he said, jokingly.

                 "What? Did he know? Had he heard?" Alice panicked inside.“U-Uh can I talk ta ya f-fer a sec? In private?” she gulped.

Glenn glanced at Carol with puzzlement knitting his eyebrows and Carol just nodded at him to listen to Alice.

“Uh okay?” He said confounded.

Afterward, the trio headed to the kitchen to talk. Alice’s palms were sweatier than the rainforest at this point. Carol saw her uneasiness and took her by the hand. Alice glimpsed up at Carol with a smile feeling faintly better about the situation. They finally arrived in the kitchen which, was covered in chrome coloring and a sheet of winter air lingered in the atmosphere. Glenn placed his hands behind him, on the counter closest to the sink.

Once more, she looked up at Carol before speaking.

“Glenn, there’s something about yer sisters I-I might’ve left out.” Alice stammered.

“What? What could you have possibly left out? My sisters are alive, right?” He asked, getting a sudden suspicion.

“Right…but, o-one of ‘em may n-not be…” She managed to get out.

Glenn’s sneaking suspicion snaked up his spine. He was going to ask a question but, it was quickly answered without uttering a sound.

“Back when I was at my hotel, a few months after Uncle Merle left me, yer sisters came ta me. Said they were runnin’ from someone called the Governor because, Jenny found his daughter caged up behind his office. That and tanks full of walker's heads.”

Glenn made a disgusted face toward all of this news. 

“She asked fer a p-p-place ta stay and I gave her one. I learned a few things from her while, she was there. She taught me how ta kill tall walkers like ya saw me do now.” She stated. She wanted to smile on that memory however, a certain situation was preventing her.

Glenn inwardly smiled upon his twin learning such a skill and teaching it to others. They were so alike yet so, different. He was the gentler, kind one while, she was the more violent and assertive one.  He remembered when, she would stand up for him when people would pick on him.  Then, she would end up in the principal’s office and their parents grounded her for it.

“Jenny u-uh mentioned somethin’ about her likin’ scrapbookin’,”Alice stated.

Drawing his attention back to Alice, Glenn nodded at this.

“Well, she was runnin’ out of room in her book and Irina wanted ta go get her new one. I-I told her that it was night time and it was taa dangerous but, she insisted that we wouldn’t be long. I-I-I knew it was stupid but, I couldn’t just let her go alone so, I went with her. Noemi was s-sleepin’ w-with Jenny. A-after that, we went ta a store and we were quiet b-b-but, the Governor’s people weren’t!” Alice’s tongue hissed.

“The Governor’s people made taa much ruckus and caused walkers ta come our way! The Governor’s men ran with their tails between their legs. We could’ve died if J-Jenny hadn’t come in. S-s-she made more noise her way, leadin’ ‘em way from us.” Alice redneck accent thickens as her heart pounded in her chest. She licked her suddenly dry lips.

“Oh God. Don’t tell me she got bit! Please, don’t me she got bit!” Glenn desired in thought.

“When all of us came back ta the hotel, s-s-she-she…showed us the bite on her arm. ”Alice finished to see what Glenn would say.

Glenn’s heart sank and swelled in his chest. His twin, someone he grew up with since his birth, had been bitten by a walker.

 His heart began beating again only this time, it ached. He could feel his knees about to give out from under him at any moment. Then, he realized that someone had to take her out before she could get anyone.

“W-who had to do it?” He asked. Hoping it hadn’t been one of his other sisters. He couldn’t bear the thought of Irina and Noemi doing anything of that sort!

“I-I-I had ta. I’m sorry Glenn. “Alice faltered

There was a brief silence before Glenn spoke again. Surprisingly, he had an odd smile on his face and quietly uttered, "That's my sister...always doing the stupid thing. "

 Alice and Carol looked at each other, in shock, at his statement. Before they could speak, Glenn came back to reality, "The others? They're still alive?"

“Before yer sister turned, she made me promise ta teach them how ta survive and I kept my promise up until they went looking fer ya up north.” She enlightened. Carol stared at her with amazement.

“I can’t guarantee they are alive right now but, I can if we go back ta the hotel and try ta find the symbol,”  Alice explained, relieved that Glenn wasn’t too upset at her or so it appeared to her anyway.

"Symbol? What kind of symbol?” Glenn asked.

“Ta tell each other we were alive. Last time I saw it was on a wall outside of the hunting shop.  She must’ve read the books I gave her. ” She stated.

“You gave her books?” Carol asked.

“Yeah. I gave her books on how ta survive since, I wasn’t going ta be around her forever. She still had a lot ta learn about survival but, she wanted ta find Glenn.” She clarified.

“Wait, you said they were headed north?” Glenn inquired.

“Yeah,” Alice confirmed.

Glenn raised an eyebrow at this, “Why would she go north? I’ve never been up north.“ he wondered aloud.

Alice shrugged, “I don’t know. I just figured it was because, Jenny was headed there.” She clarified.

Again, Glenn was still dumbfounded. “Why on earth would she think I was up north?” he thought. He gave her tons of letter before that were from Georgia.

“Unless-“ he said. He suddenly remembered something that never wanted to make him smack his own self in the face so hard till now. Jenny was dyslexic! Of course, she would mix up north and south! Next, his blood ran cold at how many walkers could possibly be up there.

“We got to find them before they reach north! They won’t survive there!” Glenn exclaimed.

Carol already detected the problem with that plan and butted in, “Hold on Glenn. I understand you want to find them but, we have to wait until tomorrow.”

Glenn looked at her for a minute and let out a huff, "Daylight. Right. It wouldn't do us any good right now." 

"Let's grab something to eat and gear up. " Carol said. "We will leave at dawn." The others agree and food sure sounded good. Glenn's emotions were all over the map. He needed to make a plan. 

"Good idea, Carol," he smiled. "Let's do this."

After a delicious meal, Alice, Glenn, and Carol went to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.


	11. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Delirium woke Alice with a start. She had forgotten that Glenn and Carol brought her to the Prison where her father was. Her father! She had forgotten he was here! She had forgotten, in the moment, that she was safe, probably for the first time in years! She jumped down from the top bunk she shared with her father. Her father took the bottom bunk. She didn’t bother with clothes because, she slept in the ones from the night before. However, she did take the time to put on her boots.

Just as she stepped out of the cell, she saw Glenn scurrying about the prison, gathering things, they needed for the run like a boy scout. She giggled at his charades but, she certainly couldn’t blame him. She was keen to find Irina and Noemi as well.

It didn’t take long for Carol, Glenn, Daryl and Alice to get ready and going for the run. Daryl and Alice were on his motorcycle while Glenn and Carol were in the SUV.  Riding on the back of a 1970’s Triumph Bonneville would be a problem for Alice if Daryl hadn't raised her on one. Before Daryl and Alice followed Carol and Glenn, Daryl put a helmet he found on one of the SWAT team walkers to Alice’s head.

"Dad, really?" Alice asked. 

"Safety first. Ya never know what might fly at ya face around here." 

Daryl told her, acting more like a dad than she recalled.

“Ya remember how ta ride it?” He asked.

“Don’t move side ta side, when getting on or off the bike, be sure there’s no engine, and hang on tight?” She inquired with an upbeat expressive manner in her voice. She already knew she had guessed correctly.

Daryl smiled as he got on his bike.  “That’s my girl. Now, hop on.”

"Hey, Dad. Ya want me ta drive?" Alice couldn't help it.

"Ya don't know how, smart ass." Daryl threw at her.

"Um...yeah..about that...lot of bike cop Walkers in town. Took 'em out. Took their bikes."

Alice did what she was told and jumped onto the motorcycle, as Daryl gave her a sly grin.

 "That's my Lil Ass Kicker,"  he said, as she held on tight. Her father gave a signal to open the gates. The walkers groaned at the sound of two vehicles zooming by them. Alice tried to not fidget around as her father past them. She was used to being around walkers but, around walkers on a loud motorcycle going god knows how many miles per hour was nerve racking. She constricted even tighter onto Daryl whenever a walker would try to grab at them then, miss.

Alice heard her father chuckling, “ Ya’ll get use ta it.”

" Yeah, well, I would feel better if I were driving. " She retorted.

Soon after that, all four of them arrive in the middle of the town Alice once called home. They got out/off out their vehicles and huddled up to plan out how they were going to find Glenn’s sisters.

“Alright, Glenn, Alice. Ya, two go north. Carol and I’ll go west. We’ll cover more ground that way.” Daryl announced.

The quartette separated into their groups and directions after that.  Glenn and Alice began their search for Irina. They executed walkers and checked building walls, windows, and doors for that symbol.

Finally, they reached Alice’s old hotel. She gave it a smirk as thanks for it providing her and her friends security.  Soon it vanished when she was reminded about Jenny and how she died by the wooden tombstone she had made her just off to the side of the hotel. “Well most of them.” Alice thought sadly. She heard Glenn following behind her until she was just about to walk in.

“Glenn?” Alice inquired as she whipped around to realize why he had stopped.

He was fixed in front of Jenny’s grave. Alice’s eyes widen at what she had done and rushes up to him,

“I-I-I’m so sorry. I-I- didn’t mean fer ya ta see this! I-I…S-s-she didn’t deserve not ta have a grave a-and” She stammered.

“No...No, it’s fine. I-I needed to see this. You go on ahead. Just…give me a minute.” Glenn struggles with the words coming out of his mouth, cutting Alice off mid-sentence.

“Alright.” She said without further questions, she went into the hotel.  She scanned the lobby for walkers and she saw a few recently killed flat on the carpeted hardwood ground.

“So they have been here!” Alice thought.

Alice continued to creep her way through rooms and halls 'til she got to a door with a sign that’s hanging off from where it once stood tall and firm on the wall. She whipped her machete out from its sheath.

Hastily, she opens the door to find a walker which, wasn’t an issue except she was not the tallest straw out the bunch. This didn't stop her, however. She took a step back, swung her blade only for it to touch base with its neck. Blood gushed out onto the floor and on herself.  She stumbled backwards as well as falling with a thud. Her machete clanked on the side of her. Thinking quickly as the walker loomed over her, she speedily moved her left foot over to the walker’s ankle, tripping it.

Secondly, she tried to reach for her machete but, Alice felt something tugging on her leg. She didn’t need to look to see what it was to know what it was, however; she did need to make sure she was kicking. She rolled on her side to use her other foot. Although she mashed her boot into the walkers face, it had no effect on it.

Before she could do it again, she sees a knife go through the walker’s head. It immediately goes limp. She shoved it off and picked herself up, grabbing her machete in the process.

She gazed up to see who to thank to notice it was Glenn.

“Thanks!” Alice panted a cheer.

“No problem,” He replied.

Swiftly, Alice regained her posture.

“But, uh- I coulda handled it myself” She retorted.

It was at this moment that the older of the two was reminded that this little girl was Daryl’s kid.

“Yeah, suure~!” Glenn slurred as he rolled his eyes. Then, he started to stroll into the stairwell.

“What? I could’ve!” Alice snapped.

Glenn smiled and gave her a playful uh huh. After passing multiple floors, they reached the roof.

“Uh Alice, this is the roof. Why would they be up here?” He asked.

She replied, “Irina, Noemi, and I would come up here from time ta time.”

“Any reason?” He requested.

Alice shook her head, “Nah, we just wanted ta get fresh air and be safe at the same time.”

“Ah,” Glenn said. Alice was about to open the door but, Glenn stopped her.

“I’ll go first. In a case of a walker.” He grinned mischievously.

He already knew Alice was glaring a hole into the back of his head. Grabbing a hold of his knife, he opened the door…nothing. Alice’s glare was replaced with a snarky smirk.

They went onto the pavement of the roof. Within an instant, began searching for the sign. Shortly, Alice heard Glenn hollering for her.

“Hey, Alice!”

“ Yeah!” She replied walking over towards him. He was behind the building where they came out from.

“If I were a betting boy, would I win the lottery?” He asked motioning toward a spray painted symbol on the wall, in the shape of a gun target with a capital ‘R’ on the middle.

“That’s it!” She gasped as she bounded up to it to touch it. A small portion of the paint had absorbed in her fingertip. “And it’s fresh! She was just here! Which means-“ Alice gasped as examined her finger. Next, she scampers around to the front of the building, with Glenn following her. She saw a tiny polaroid taped on the metal door.  She yanked it off the hot plated door.

The picture had a girl with mountain smoked hair pulled back in a ponytail with a small portion forming a curved waterfall over her forehead, coffee colored eyes, a dark blue heavy jacket shirt combo, shorts, and onyx colored boots. Off to the left of them was another who looked younger than the other one, maybe the age of seven. She also had tan skin and brown eyes.

Her hair was pulled off in little cascade shaped ponytails on the sides of her head. Her clothes were a simple unzipped purple hoodie with a light gray shirt underneath it, her pants were the color of midnight.

The two girls had confused facial expressions plastered on. Their poses were exaggerated as if their arms were eagle wings.

Alice giggles at the silly poses they made as she flipped the polaroid over. On the back, it had written on it. The handwriting was not print nor cursive but, a mixture of both. It read,

_“Alice,_

_Hey! Where the hell are you? I’ve been looking all over for you! Well, whenever you get back, I’m at the warehouse._

_P.S. Noemi says hi”_

_-Irina_

 

Alice once again chuckled at the polaroid. She remembered a time where Irina would profusely apologize for just uttering a cuss word to someone on accident. Alice smirked upon this,

 _“I trained her well.”_ Her thought’s snickered.

Suddenly, she heard someone speak her name to her. She looked up from the picture to see Glenn. She had completely forgotten he was with her.

“May I see it?” Glenn asked.

It was at this moment that Alice remembered that Glenn was the older brother of Irina and probably doesn’t want to see them swearing.

“Uh- yeah just…don’t look at the back.” She warned as he took the picture from her.

Glenn raised an eyebrow, “What? Why?” he asked. Before he could turn over the picture, Alice blurted out,

“Because, it’s uh-uh just her askin' me where I am! Nothin' important!”

Glenn’s eyebrows frowned at her then, does the opposite and turns it over anyway. Although, he was rather surprised that his sister had written that, even had to double check if it was her handwriting, he didn’t care one bit. He was just glad he had physical evidence that she’s alive!

  
“ Do you know where the warehouse is?” He asked.

“Huh? Ya mean he isn’t mad at Irina?”Alice pondered. “Yeah! It’s almost out of this town,” she replied.

Glenn’s face lit up like a kid going to see Christmas lights the first time.

“Alright then, lead the way!” he cheered as the door bounced off the wall when he opened it. He ran down the staircase with Alice rushing after him.

“Glenn…wait up would ya? I can't lead if yer leadin'!” Alice yelled.

Glenn whirled around to the reality that Alice was still with him. She was out of breath at this point.

“Oh-heh sorry.” he gave a nervous chuckle as she caught up to him.

Soon, they made their way to the warehouse. It was old and a slightly dilapidated, however it stood tall and firm into the ground.

“Ya ready?” Alice asked.

“Yes,” Glenn said calmly, trying to contain his anticipation.

Both walked into the decrypted building. They gawked at how well the place looked! It wasn’t by any means mansion clean but, it was still in good condition. As Alice looked around to spot ropes and silver lines dangling in the air above them.

 _“What the fuck?”_ Alice thought.

After that, she finally saw just what the strings were attached to…A huge axe.

 _“It obviously some type of system but, what for? Walkers?”_ she pondered.

 _ **SNAP!**_ Is what she heard. She looked over to where the noise came from. She saw that Glenn had stepped on one of the wires, triggering whatever alarm system that was planned out.

“Glenn, look out!” Alice screamed. She ran and barreled into him, knocking him out of the way. Glenn and Alice glanced back as they watched structure of the wires unravel, the cogwheels turn, and the axe swing to where Glenn’s head would have been if Alice hadn’t saved him.

“Thanks!” He panted, in disbelief that he just could’ve been killed and relieved that he wasn’t.

“Not a problem,” Alice replied.

“Alice?” She heard from above them.

She moved her head around to a gigantic shelf made of pine wood. She grinned at the sound of her ally’s innocent voice. She made a two-fingered gesture from her head to side as she said,

“Hey! Ya need a new system but, that’s not what I’m here for. Come on down! I got something for ya!” she hollered, trying not to snicker.

“Alright!” Irina shouted. Next, Irina grabbed the rope nearby her. She hoists herself on it to slide down it. The rope burned her hands in the process. She landed with a thud on the dark gray pavement.

“So, Alice, where on earth wer…” Irina paused in mid-sentence, staring at bewilderment at the sight in front of her. Her older brother, the brother they had been looking for since, the apocalypse began! “G-Glenn…”She gasped.

“H-hi Irina.” Was all Glenn could stammer.

“Glenn!” she cheered as she ran up and pounced on him. In return, Glenn held her tightly. Sheer blissful happiness was flooding down his face. Hers too.

“I missed you so..so.. much.” Glenn choked out. He pulls back from the hug to face her. He didn’t know what he was expecting but, her looking older was not one of them. “You grew up so much too!” he blurted.

Irina giggled at this comment. “Yeah that kind of happens from time to time,” She replied. Glenn and Alice laughed at her retort.

“When did you get a sense of humor?” He asked. Irina thought for a minute, oh right! Alice became her friend. Next, they were interrupted by a small voice calling her name.

She looks up to find her younger sister looking down at the trio.  She looked bamboozled and unsure of what was going on.

“Noemi! Come here! He’s here! Glenn’s here!” Irina shouted to her.

Noemi shot up with delight plastered on her face. Her big brother was at last here! Noemi copied what Irina did and slid down the rope. She sprinted past Irina and Alice and into Glenn’s arms. She was so eager that instead of saying Glenn’s name she cheered,

“ Pizza Boy!”

“Pizza Boy?” Alice glanced up at Glenn as she asked this.

“I-uh-heh-I use to be a Pizza Delivery boy before the apocalypse and Jenny would call me that,” He replies.

Alice wanted to chuckle but, the mention of Jenny’s name didn't let her.

“Glenn.” Irina butted in.

“Yes? ”He asked.

“Jenny’s…” Irina was going to say Jenny was dead but, Glenn cuts her off.

“Yeah. I know…Alice told me everything.” He replied with sadness vibrating in his voice.

Irina hugged Glenn tighter than the one before,

“I’m sorry.” She whimpered.

“Oh no no no, it’s not your fault she died.” He breathed, trying to calm his sister down.

“B-but I went to-to get her a new scrapbook by m-myself a-and” Irina tried to explain.

“How many times do I have ta tell ya.” Alice puffed out. She has heard this from her mouth so many times and every time she’s had to explain it. ‘It wasn’t and ain’t yer fault. Ya was just trying ta help!”

“Irina, Alice is right. She had to do it. Jenny caught the walker’s rabies!” Noemi chirped.

There was a long pause before Glenn comes in with a question,

“Irina, why does she refer to the virus as rabies?”

“It’s a long story.” Irina uttered.

“Which we kinda need ta tell later because, there is a group we have ta set back ta.” Alice chimed. She didn’t want to ruin the moment but, they were supposed to meet up with Carol and her Dad soon.

“Oh right! Irina, Noemi come on we got to get back home.” Glenn smiled.

Normally, Irina would’ve taken a page out of Alice’s book and say no, however, this was her brother! Of course, she was going to say yes!

“Okay!” Irina squeaked.

After that, Irina and Noemi followed Glenn and Alice back to the middle of town with Alice killing a few walkers along the way.

 

 


	12. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

 

Soon they reached the middle of town where Daryl and Carol were waiting for them. Alice beamed a smile at Irina and Noemi.

“Hey, Carol! Hi, Dad!” Alice chirped.

Irina gawked at her best friend. “Dad?! As in the one, you thought was dead, Dad?!” Irina thought to herself.

“The one and only!” Daryl smirked at the kid’s enthusiastic question while, everyone else laughed.

Irina blushed as she realized that she spoke her thoughts out loud. Soon after that, Irina and Noemi plant themselves into the car while, Alice bounded to her dad’s motorcycle.

Alice and Irina may have been separated for a while but, their friendship never died. They were inseparable once again! Alice gave Irina a safe tour of the place. It was a lot safer than the one Carl had given her. She also introduced her all the people she met. All were new faces to the sisters except one, Michonne. Her face was in Woodberry when, they lived there. She was good friends with Jenny.

“Irina, Noemi, I’d like ya ta meet Michonne!” Alice presented. Irina and Noemi smiled,

“Hi, Michonne!”Irina smiled.

“Irina? Noemi?” Michonne replied. Baffled by the fact two children that were from Woodberry were here.  “What are you…you’re Glenn’s sisters???” Michonne asked, putting two and two together.

Both girls nodded. Michonne's eyes darted from sister to sister, still in minor shock, they searched for the Third eldest sister. First there was slight fear, then panic, then anger. Her emotions were obvious to anyone who knew her.

“Where’s Jenny?” She asked. She took note of all three little girls heads hanging low. "Where is Jenny?" She all but demanded.

“I see,” Michonne said. There was a silent blanket hovering in the atmosphere.

Realizing the mood had to change before she lost it, she quickly asked, “You want to see something cool Noemi?”

Noemi looked up at her and nodded. Quickly, she drew her Katana in front of her. Alice had already seen it so she just smiled at it. However, Irina and Noemi stood in awe at it the sword.

“Wow! That’s so cool!” She gasped.

Michonne chuckled, amused by the seven-year-old girl.

Out of nowhere, Noemi piped up in an amazed whisper,

“I want one!”

Alice giggled as Michonne smirked, “Maybe in a year or two.”

Later that day, after Irina and Noemi unpacked everything in the cell they would call their 'bedroom', they headed down to dinner.  Two of the cafeteria tables had been pressed together to make one long one. Everyone was sitting at it. Glenn was sitting by Maggie, Beth was by her sister, Hershel was in front of Maggie and Beth, Tyresse was by Sasha and Karen, Daryl next to Alice with Carol on the other side, Rick and Carl were side by side in front of Alice. There were two seats that were empty on the other side of Alice.

They saw that the group had begun eating. They were eating some type of meat, and vegetables.

Alice motioned the Rhee sisters over. The two newbies of the group walked over to the table to take their places. They looked down at their plates and couldn’t seem to recall having an actual meal like this.

"Don't be shy." Carol's voice broke the silence. "Eat what you want." As Irina and Noemi started eating, Glenn started with a series of questions.

          “So Irina, how did you and Alice become friends?” he asked.

          Alice stopped eating, looked at the group. “Well, um…we became friends when Jenny and them came ta my hotel but, after, Jenny died. She didn’t talk much or come out either.” Alice explained.

          There were whispers among the table. Alice could’ve sworn she heard someone say Jenny’s name.

 “They’re probably asking who she was.” She reasoned to herself.

          “Wait, what do you mean by come out?” Glenn asked.

Before Alice could reply, Irina did for her. “I stayed in one of the rooms and didn’t leave it for a while. The only time I left was when Alice would leave food by the door.” Irina clarified.          

“What about Noemi?” Glenn inquired.

          “She would come in and out of it. She mostly spent time with Alice. After awhile, I realized it wasn’t just my fault for Jenny’s death.” Irina said but, was cut off.

          “It still ain’t” Alice corrected her friend, annoyed by her constant blaming herself for her sister’s death.

          “Anyway, It was also the walker’s and the Governor’s fault. ”Irina was interrupted once again but, this time by Rick. He looked up from his plate in shock.

"The Governor? Glenn and Carol told me Alice had trouble with him as much as I have?" Rick cut in, making sure he was right.

          “Yeah, but, if it wasn’t for Irina, I don’t think ya guys would’ve found me in the hotel.” Alice clarified.

“What do you mean by if it weren’t for Irina?” Glenn asked, wondering what his sister did.

Alice and Irina shared different glances at each other. Irina didn’t want her to tell the story, however, Alice did.

She could see out of the corner of her eye, her friend making repetitive hand motions by her neck, telling her to stop talking. Alice was not doing that any time so. Irina puts a halt to her charade.

“Alice, hehe what are you doing?” she blew through her teeth.

“What? I’m just explainin’ what happened.” Alice smiled wolfishly.

“Yes, I know but, they don’t need to know the details!” Irina sang. 

“Weren’t ya the one that was proud of tellin’ the Governor off?” Alice replied.

“Woah! What!?” Glenn asked. 

Irina and Alice looked at each other and back them. The two friends had forgotten everyone been with them. Everyone had their eyes glued to them now like deer in headlights.

Knowing all too well what happened. Irina bit her lip as she scanned to her brother. Alice did the same thing with her father. Both knew that both relatives remembered them as sweet, _they couldn’t do anything wrong_ little girls when in reality, that couldn’t be more a lie than Christmas being Halloween.

Alice looked over at Irina and she just let out a huff.

“You might as well tell them now!” She said, making a hand motion in the air. She drew her attention back to her plate. She didn’t want to reveal her embarrassment.

Meanwhile, pride swelled within Alice’s chest. 

“Before, I can get ta what she said ta him. I need ta tell ya what happened before that.” Alice reasoned.

The group nodded, interested in what tale the little Dixon and Rhees had in store.

 

_*Flashback*_

 

It had been two months since Jenny died. Irina was still in her room, and Alice was teaching Noemi skills. One morning, Noemi went to check on Irina however, she was gone. Immediately, she told Alice and when she went to see herself, sure enough, she was gone.

She searched the whole town with Noemi for her. When she went back, she noticed Irina sitting on the ledge of the roof. Looking down at the world with emotionless chocolate orbs. Alice, thinking the worst, rushed up the stairwell and to the roof.

“Irina?!” Alice gasped. “W-what are ya doin’ up here?”

“I wanted fresh air,” She said with ice freezing her throat.

“So open a fuckin window! Don’t go doin’ this!” Alice screamed.

“Sorry,” She replied.

Alice gives an irritated huff even though in her heart, she was thankful Irina had got out of that forsaken room. Before she and Noemi left, Alice looks at the small bag that had lumps all through it behind Irina.

“What’s in the bag?” She asked.

“Supplies, you said you needed them,” She replied.

Alice was astonished, this would’ve meant that Irina went off by herself! She didn’t even have a weapon!

“How did ya survive!?” Alice demanded.

“I laid low. I got to a store, got the things, laid low again, came back here,” she answered.

Alice gave a grumble under her breath then joined her friend on the ledge. Her legs dangled from the ledge. Gravity threatening to pull her to the ground below. Alice was never afraid of heights, however, being on top of a hotel with flesh-eating undead pooling at the bottom of it, did make her skin crawl. Noemi followed suit and took her place on the other side of Irina.

Once Irina handed her the grocery bag, Alice opened it and was rather impressed with the results. Did she manage to get food, drinks, rags, and…empty beer bottles?

“What are the bottles for?” Alice inquired.

“For cocktails,” Irina stated as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

“Ya know how ta make a cocktail?” Alice asked shockingly. She wouldn’t have guessed a city girl like her would know anything about that.

“Yeah, I watched my brother play video games and he made a cocktail in one of them,” She explained. Then, she grabs one bottle, a rag, and a water bottle filled with some kind of liquid. Alice thought it was a bit light colored for it to be oil but, quickly brushed it off. Then, Irina pushed the rag into place.

After she lit it, she dropped it to the herd of walkers. They didn’t hear the small glass breaking over the roaring explosion that happened right after. Alice and Irina both stumbled back from the massive blast. They also took note that it was larger than a normal cocktail eruption.

“Irina, what did ya put in that bottle?” Alice asked, wide eyed.

“Oil why?” Irina asked.

“What kind of oil?” she demanded.

“I don’t know it was in some red triangular shaped box.” Irina shrugged. Alice looked around to see if the box was around which she couldn’t find.

“May I see the oil?” She requested,  having a sneaking suspension that it wasn’t oil that was in that bottle. Irina handed the container filled with oil to Alice. Alice opened it and gave it a whiff and instantaneously cringed away from it. She knew the smell and it was definitely not oil.

“Irina, This ain’t oil … This is gasoline,” she clarified.

“What? Are you sure?” Irina questioned.

“Positive. The color of oil is black, this,”Alice stated, pointing at the bottle. “Is a yellowish orange color. Plus, the smell is taa harsh ta be oil.”

Irina’s brown eyes turned into big saucers when she realized this. She rubbed the back of her head as if trying to sooth her own embarrassment.

“O-oh…um…Whoops.” Irina stuttered through a half smile.

After a pause between the two, laughter could be heard from miles from the three little girls. Alice took note that this was the first time her Korean friend had cracked a smiled since Jenny died.

“What should we call it?”Alice asked.

“Huh? Call what?” Irina interrogated.

“The cocktail. If it has gas fuel in it, it’s not a cocktail now is it?”Alice retorted.

“Hmm. Good point…Firetail?” the darker haired girl replied

“Nah, ta Kiddish…Gas-tail?” Alice replied.

Irina raised an eyebrow at her. The brunette shook her head as to agree to her silent objection. Suddenly, they heard the younger of the three blurt out,

“A gas cock?” she asked, clueless to what she had just said.

Irina and Alice held their breath when she had spoken. They couldn’t believe she had just said that.

“Noemi…No…just…no.” Was all Irina could manage to get out of her throat. Meanwhile, Alice was trying so hard not to laugh but, failed miserably.

“Alice-hehe-sh-sh-shut up! This is serious!” Irina said through the bubbling laughter.

“Then why are ya laughin’!” Alice smirked at her new friend.

The Korean friend laughed in response. This all well and good, however, even Alice knew Irina wouldn’t get far with just cocktails. She knew Irina and Noemi both needed weapons. Where would she get weapons from? The Weaponry! Alice grabbed her friend by the hand and dragged her along with her.

          “Come on!” Alice hollered.

“To where?” Irina replied.

“Ta the weapon shop!” Alice answered.

With that, the trio of girls went to the weapon store only find that all the weapons were gone.

“What the hell?!” Alice cried. “Who the fuck took ‘em all?! Why the hell would they need that many…” Alice’s green hazel eyes widen when she straightaway realized exactly who took them. Who else would it be?! His town is the only one that had that large of a group that would need that many guns. She grew angry, however, not at him but, her uncle. He knew she was here and yet he had the nerve to help him take away all the weapons that could protect her!

“That Son of a Bitch!” she growled as her boot hit a nearby tin can. It bounced on the wall and polluted over Irina’s head. Instinctively, Irina ducked so the can could crash on the wall behind her. Noemi flinched at the sudden outburst from Alice.

“Keep it down! They’ll hear you!” Irina hissed, referring to the walkers wandering outside.

Alice gave a frustrated puff in reply.

“Well shit! Now fuckin’ what!?” She asked herself.

“We could always get them back,” Irina suggested.

“Get them back? How?” Alice requested. Curious of what Irina’s intentions were.

“The night that…Jenny died…I-I noticed that one of the trucks that the Governor was using had a tarp. If we’re lucky, when that truck comes again, we hide under the tarp and when they put the cars up, we get out, grab the weapons, and get out.” Irina explained.

Once again, Alice dumbfounded by this sudden behavior from her.

“And here I was thinkin’ ya were nothin’ but, a goody-goody!” Alice teased.

“Oh no, I still am. However,”

Alice noticed the abrupt change in Irina’s voice, tuning from plain to pure anger.

“He is one of the reasons my sister is dead! For that, he will pay! Even if it means leaving him defenseless!” She disparaged.

Surprise blinked Alice’s eyes open. She had no idea she felt this way but nevertheless, Alice did the same thing when Merle walked away from her those months ago. She blamed him and she still does. Plus, the Governor's people did make that noise that one night and if they hadn’t Jenny would still have been alive. How did she know this? Because, Jenny may have been violent but, she wasn’t stupid. She was weary of walkers, dangerous people, knew when a situation was dangerous, and she even taught Alice a technique to kill the undead when someone was too short.

“Alrighty then. We shall wait. “Alice countered as they headed back to the hotel.  They would pay a visit to the weapon shop every day until that truck had shown up. They did everything that was in the plan.

Once the Governor's henchmen, they pushed the tarp off of them and got out.

“Okay, ya know this place, where are the weapons?” Alice asked in a whisper.

“Follow me. Stick close Noemi and please don’t make any sounds.” Irina ordered.

After sneaking past a few guards, they managed to get into the weapon storage. There were millions of guns and swords along the walls, bins filled with knives and grenades. There were also backpacks but, Irina and Alice weren’t focused on them. It was like a Military’s dream come true in there.

Alice quickly went over to the knives and started rummaging through them along with Irina. Noemi was walking around, looking at the cool blades hanging on the walls. She bumped into a purple backpack that had black accents with her leg. Opening it she found a bunch of weapons, rags, food, and water. Looked over her shoulder, she zipped it up again and put it on her back.

At this point, there were knives scattered across the floor.

“Oh hey, this knife looks cool!” Irina said with excitement. Alice already cringed at her knife suggestion. No way is that was going to help her. It was a meek pocket knife which, was way too small.

“How about no. That’s way taa small. Ya’d die the second that thing broke.” Alice explained.

“Yeah, you’re right,” She said as she put it back. All of the sudden Alice spotted something shining in the bin. She yanked it out and to find that it was a hatchet. Irina gawked at for a few minutes before, Alice spoke.

“It’s no knife but, here. It’s a start.” Then she gave the hatchet to Irina and she gladly took it from her.

“Now let’s find one for Noemi and get the hell outta here before they notice us.” Alice indicated. After this statement, she put her head in the bin. There were a few knives at the very bottom. She tried to reach them however, her arms were short. She tried again only to fall in and tip the balance of her and gravity. Gravity had won as she and the bin fell over with a booming crash.

All three of them start to panic when they heard voices outside. Immediately, Irina and Noemi help Alice out of the plastic container. All three of them head toward a window and slide it open. They slithered out of the building into the town, and behind trees until they got to a huge wall. It had a ladder nearby it.

“This way!” Alice hissed.

The trio went up the ladder and on a pathway set up as a sniping range. Alice looked over the wall to find large wooden stakes holding up the wall and trash littering the earth’s ground. She hesitated before she heard someone from Woodberry shout at them. Speedily, she slid down one of the stakes with Irina and Noemi following behind. 

          After all long journey back to the hotel and settling down, Alice noticed a bag on Noemi’s back.

“Hey, Noemi, where ya get the bag from?” Alice asked.

“From the weapon place. “She responded.

“Nice job kid!” Alice smirked as she ruffled her hair.

“Uh, guys…you might want to come look at this,” Irina warned.

Alice and Noemi waltz over to her. They glanced outside to see cars outside the hotel. Then, Alice spotted the Governor.

“Shit! Noemi hide the bag somewhere! Hurry!” Alice ordered.

Noemi went off somewhere to do as she was told. Alice and Irina made their way down the down to the lobby to where the Governor along with his lackeys were just walking in. Some of them carrying guns and some weren’t.

“Hello, girls. I do believe you have something of mine.” He declared.


	13. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

 

*Present*

The group was stunned by the girl’s tale and it wasn’t even over. Carl was amazed the most by Alice. Hearing this tale just made him like her even more. Glenn let out a small chuckle when he heard that his sister learned how to make a cocktail from his video gaming. He could hear his mother ringing in his head saying I told you so. Daryl playfully smacked his daughter upside the head.

“Ow! What was that for?” Alice asked, looking up at him with eyebrows frowning in confusion.

“Fer bein’ stupid. That was a risky stunt ya two pulled! Yer damn lucky ya didn’t die! “Daryl scolded.

“Ah come on Daryl. She just did something you would have done. In fact, I remember Glenn, you and I had to do something similar to get a bag of weapons out of a certain walker-filled road in Atlanta.” Rick responded.

"Hey! Yer not supposed ta encourage her!" Daryl shot Rick one of those looks. Everyone giggled at his reaction.

“Wait, you still haven’t told us what she said.” Maggie pointed out to Alice.

“Oh right! As I was sayin’” her mischievousness leaked from her mouth to her eyes as she glanced at Irina. She saw her friend’s shoulders rise to her ears.

*Flashback*

“What ya talkin about? “Alice responded, playing the oblivious card. She took note that Merle wasn’t with them.

“Tch, coward!” Alice thought.

“You know perfectly well what I’m talking about! The Weapons. Where are they?” he asked, as his goons wandered around them in search for them.

“What part of, I don’t know what the fuck yer talkin’ about, don’t ya understand? “Alice scowled.

The Governor’s eyes widened at her profanity.

“Now, that’s no way for a young lady to talk.” Corrected her, taking a step toward her. Alice hadn’t noticed but, an unexpected protectiveness loomed over her like an alpha wolf protecting its pack. She had extended her right arm out in front of Irina. Irina surprising did the same for Noemi. She always knew was the older sister for Noemi but, never had she had to be protective of her. That was her brother and sister’s job. However, they weren’t here. It’s her turn now.

“Well in case ya haven’t noticed, I ain’t no lady! “Alice warned.

“If I were you, I would keep in mind that you’re talkin to an adult!” he told her.

“Governor!” Someone from behind him called. Alice couldn’t see who the voice belonged to but, she could tell it was feminine.

“What?” He answered.

“We’re here for the weapons,” They reply.

The Governor glanced over his shoulder then back at Alice.

“Right…I know.” He said, crouched down to the girl’s level. ”I’ll make you deal.”

“What kinda deal?” Alice growled, placing the hand she was using to shield Irina and Noemi.

“You can keep the weapons if you give us your hotel,” He responded.

"Ya want the hotel? And we keep the weapons...if we have 'em." "Why? Can't get one of yer own?"

Alice took note she was a bit more like her dad than she originally thought. She stood her ground.

"You're awfully brave, little one. You remind me of my daughter." He replied.

"You mean the one Jenny found?" Alice was more than surprised. She knew who the voice belonged but,

she couldn’t believe Irina would even think to say such a thing! That sounded like something that she would say!

“Excuse me?” he requested.

“My sister, you know the one with the sniper. We left because, she found your turned daughter locked up in a cage, behind your office.” She sneered a taunt.

“That’s a lie!” he retorted, knowing his group was behind him. “Your sister left because, she couldn’t handle my orders!”

“That’s such bullshit! My sister left because, she didn’t like your rules?! Gimme a break!” Irina rolled her eyes after this comment. “Does it look like I've got 'stupid' written on my forehead?” She gawked.

“Irina…” Alice gasped. She had no idea she could utter those words without flinching.

“No, Alice! We've been running from this asshole for months because of him!

If it weren’t for the fact he’s some whack job, Jenny wouldn’t have died!” Irina reasoned. She pointed her finger at him, accusingly.

“She died because she decided to leave my safe facility! Not my fault she did something that stupid!” He spat.

That was the final straw for Irina. She went to reach for her new hatchet she had stuffed in the back of her one of her socks but, she felt a light touch on her arm. She gazed to the back of her. Noemi was cowering behind her, clearly frightened by all the fighting that was going on. Irina pulled her arm back in front of her. Alice shared a look with her friend, silently telling her friend to be quiet and let her handle it.

“Fuck you, asshat,” Irina growled under breath in defeat.

"Ya were sayin about the hotel,” Alice scowled. She had already been upset about the Governor wanting the hotel

she has been since the beginning of the apocalypse now; he had upset her friend. That only made her, even more, uncooperative.

The Governor took his eyes off of the two Korean girls to Alice once more.

"What's your answer?" he asked.

"Ya were serious about that?" Alice retorted, rather rudely.

"Governor, we have looked everywhere. There's no one else here and no weapons," barked one of his 'goonies' as she liked to refer to the Governor's guys.

"I'll tell ya what." Alice broke in, "How about we stay in MY hotel and if we come across these 'weapons' yer so worried about, we'll send 'em ta ya! ‘Ight?!" Even the Governor couldn't help but think she was a little firecracker. He smiled some weird little grin and stated, with a matter-of-fact tone,

"How about you little brats stay out of my way! If I find out any of you have MY weapons, you will wish you had handed them over when you had the chance!" He looked at his guys, "Let's go. There's nothing here." Looking back at Alice and the girls,

he made his final statement, "I'll be watching you. One wrong move and I'll be back."

Alice thought, for a split second, of saying something but realized that it was best left alone. They were leaving...and they had the weapons! She smirked when they left. Suddenly, she remembered Irina and her sudden outburst. She quickly scampered after her as she was leaving and stopped in front of her.

She formed a “T” with her hands as she questioned her friend.

“ Woah-woah-woah! Time out!”She said.

“What?” Irina asked.

“The fuck was that!?” She demanded, gesturing to where the Governor just left to.

“He was about to take away your place from you. I wouldn’t let that happen. Plus, he was going to take way the one place closest to my sister’s grave. I could never let that happen!” She hissed.

Alice blinked before she let out a hardy chuckle. She really did rub off on her. That’s when an Idea came to her mind. She grabbed her best friend’s hand and dragged her with her.

“Come on!” Alice hollered with excitement.

“Huh? Where are we going?” She asked confused by the sudden behavior change.

“Celebratin’! Dixon style!” She called after her.

“Wait! What about Noemi?” the dark haired girl inquired.

Alice stopped and whirled around to face Noemi, who was still holding on to Irina’s hand.

“Noemi, go ta either Irina’s room or mine, and barricade it until we get back!” She ordered.

“Okay!” Noemi answered as she ran to one of the room. Then she realized something. “Wait! What about the weapons in the fridge?” she asked.

“Ya-ya hid the weapons in the fridge?” Alice requested.

“Uh huh! When the world was normal, teachers would tell me to hide the fundraiser packets in the fridge because, that way your parent’s will find them unexpectedly.” She explained.

 _“Heh-smart move kid.”_ Alice thought. “Okay, then go get them, barricade whatever room you choose and wait for us ta come back,” She ordered.

“Okay!” Noemi hollered.

With that, the trio became the duo. Off to get the stuff they need to celebrate the Dixon way. Soon, they returned with alcohol and spray paint. There were three for each girl, one gray for Noemi, one red for Alice, and one blue for Irina.

After meeting up again in the lobby, Alice threw Irina and Noemi their spray cans. Then, she uncapped the cherry colored paint. She drew a capitalized “D” on the wall along with a circle around it with two lines in the middle laying on top of each other in the form of a cross. Irina took note of this and decided to do the same with her artwork. She was going to do an “I” but, she believed it looked to weird so, she went with her last initial.

“What’s the “R” stand for?”Alice asked.

“My last name,” She replied.

“What’s yer last name?” Alice inquired.

“Rhee,” Irina stated.

_*End of Flashback*_

You could have heard a pin drop; the silence was so thick! Glenn looked both shocked and horrified...and just a dash of pride at his sister. Daryl’s pride was more than a bag full compared to Glenn’s when, he heard that his daughter had told, one of their biggest threats right now, off! Alice could feel the heat from Irina’s cheeks just from where she was sitting.

She looked over to see her friend had sunken her head down past her shoulders with her eyes closed. Waiting for the embarrassing moment to end. Alice began to feel a twinge of guilt at the pit of her chest.

Michonne gave the girls a smirk as she went back to eating and mumbles under her breath

"She's definitely your kid. Daryl."

“Yup, that's my Little Ass Kicker!" Daryl rejoiced while rubbing Alice's head.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

 

Two months have gone by since Irina and Noemi joined the group. Rick assigned some people for look out. Alice wondered if she could do it? So far it was Glenn, Irina, and Carl. Rick only needed one more, that was perfect for Alice. Alice went to her dad and questioned him with big puppy dog like eyes.

“Can I look out?".

"Uh... I guess. Ya have ta ask Rick, though.” Daryl replies.

"Thanks, Dad!” Alice sang.

She went off to ask Rick if she could be on watch and he naturally agreed. Rick gave Alice a pistol with a sniper’s scope. Irina and Alice shared an all knowing anxious glance with each other.

“You know how to shot a gun right?” He asked.

“Yeah.” Alice knew it was a lie. Typically, she would’ve just told the truth but she wanted to prove herself. Afterward, she bounded up to Irina. 

Right, then the foursome heard Noemi shouting good night to them. She was standing by Beth and Maggie.

“Good night Noemi!” Irina replied.

“Night, Kid!”Alice copied.

“Night Mimi! ”Glenn responded.

Alice raised an eyebrow to him but, he didn’t see it.

“Mimi?” She whispered to Irina.

“Oh, it’s her nickname Glenn use to call her by before the world ended.” She clarified.

“Oooh, gotcha,” Alice replied.

Alice and Carl, (who was dressed in a blue shirt, black pants, brown boots and normal hat) were paired up in the tower nearest to the prison. Glenn and Irina were it the one across from them.  Even with the scope, each shot Alice missed, bringing more walkers to the gate.

 Carl appeared to notice that she was not the best shot in the world.

 Finally, he asked,” You don’t know how to use a gun, do you?"

 Alice remained silent while still shooting, she was embarrassed that she didn't know how to use a gun. Sure her father was a hunter, however, when the apocalypse happened, he was still teaching her how to use her machete, track animals, and set traps, that’s it.

"I...I can teach you?" Carl suggested. Alice was going to object, but then she realized that her machete wasn't going take her everywhere.

"’Ight." Alice accepted with a huff. Carl took the sniper pistol out of Alice's hands and presented to her on how to hold it.

 "You almost had it, but your elbows are too stiff and straight out. You need to relax your elbows closer to your body.” Carl said. "Here now you try!". Carl handed Alice the gun, Alice tried to hold it like how Carl did, but it still wasn’t exactly accurate.  "No-no-no, here let me help you.” Carl insisted. Swiftly, Carl pushed Alice's arms down slightly and pulled them back. Next, he moved Alice's left hand up more, allowing Alice’s thumb to lay flat above the trigger. Alice was pleased that the darkness of the night cloaked her now pink frosted cheeks.

She would have to make sure that Beth and Irina don't find out about this. Otherwise, she’ll never hear the end of it like last time.

“There you go! Now close one eye...Okay take three deep breaths, and aim."Carl instructed. Alice took three long slow breaths and aimed at a walker on the far right of the prison fence. "Aaa-and pull the trigger!” Carl exclaimed. Alice pulled the trigger, squeezing her eyes shut, cringing at the gun shot booming in her ears.

Following that, she heard the grunt from a walker come to an abrupt end. Alice looked to the side of the sniper and saw the walker that she tried to shoot at was gone. Alice had shot the walker! She knows how to use a gun!

"I did it!" Alice was so excited that she dropped the gun she was in possession of and wrapped her arms around Carl's neck. She softly plants a kiss on his cheek. It was at this moment when his cheeks grew hot that Carl remembered that she was a girl.

Alice realized what she was doing, with one rapid instinct she broke herself away from Carl.

"I..I mean…thanks,” Alice said awkwardly, dusting what nonexistent dirt was on her.

 Carl was shocked at what Alice did. She just kissed him on the cheek! The girl who he’s had a crush on since she first got there just kissed him on the cheek! "W...wait here." Carl stammered.

Carl climbs down the ladder and tries to spot something.

 Meanwhile, Alice is left there waiting for Carl to get back.

 _“Oh way ta go, Alice! Ya scared ‘im off!_ ” Alice’s thoughts shouted in her head. _“Well, it’s not like I planned it!”_ another thought of hers argued with herself.

While Alice is having conflicted battle with her emotions, Carl, at last, spotted what he's been looking for...a white and lavender flower. They grew along the prison. The lavender was tipped on the petals and had white freckles shining through.

 He plucked it and climbed back up the ladder. He saw Alice and walked toward her slowly.

 "H... here! "Carl stammers again, taking the flower out from behind his back. Alice's expression changed to embarrassment to amazement.

 _“It’s beautiful.”_ Alice thought. She looked at Carl then at the flower. Carl had his eyes tightly shut, ready for anything bad to happen. Alice found his expression quite comical.  Alice slowly takes the flower she looks down at it.

"Th.Thank ya” Alice was cut off when she looked up from the flower right at the moment Carl decided to pressed his lips to hers. He kissed her.

 It wasn't one of those sloppy, opened mouth kisses, but it was a closed, soft, sweet kiss. Alice was taken aback; she couldn't even think. This wasn't just any kiss...it was her first.

 _“Wow, his lips are softer than they look.”_ Alice took a mental note

Carl opened his eyes steadily and quickly pulled away.

"I. I’m s-so-sorry” Carl stammers even more with his face now scarlet red. Alice's face change from frosted pink to airbrushed cherry to match his. She just blankly stood there not responding at all.

Carl took this as a bad sign and began to walk past Alice "I’ll…just go. Now. I-I’ll find someone else to cover for me.” Carl said.

When he strolled beside Alice, she yanked on his arm, hauling him in for another kiss. It was just similar to the first one except a bit more passionate and more opened.  Alice didn't know what this tingling feeling was when she kissed him, but she liked it. She loved the way it made her skin prickle with delight.

 You would think all the stories from her old friends, and the book she read, she would’ve been more prepared for this moment. However, it was much different experiencing than reading or hearing it.

Although Carl was surprised by Alice yet again, he didn't seem to mind one more kiss. During the kiss, he wondered if she had kissed anyone before because, it sure seemed like it to him. After a while he decided that didn’t matter at the moment, Alice pulled away and smirked,

" Ya don’t have ta do that. I much prefer having ya here.” Alice purred, still holding onto his arm.

“R-really? You’re not mad?” Carl asked.

Alice chuckled, “Nah, truth be told city boy, I like ya taa. I have for a while now.”

“Oh ehe-he,” Carl responded with a half-smile. She jumped up to kiss his cheek on last time before, picking up her gun off the floor and mousing her way over where they were before with a little bounce in her step. Carl followed suit.

          After a period of pausing, Alice spoke up,

          “Ya know, we’ll have ta keep this a secret. Right?”

          Carl gave her a confused sideways glance from under his hat.

“Huh? Why do you say that?” he asked.

“Did ya forget who my father is? And yer's?" Alice gawked at him.

Carl’s eye’s widened at the realization. He wasn't really worried about his dad but how could he forget that Daryl Dixon was her father?

“Oooh right.” He winced.

Meanwhile in the tower across from them, Irina and Glenn were watching the walkers claw at the gate. Irina was in charge of the binoculars and Glenn was holding a sniper rifle.

“Irina… did you really say that to the Governor?” Glenn asked.

Irina cringed, “M-Maybe.Why?” She asked.

“I don’t mind that you said it…just be more careful with who you tell it to next time.” Glenn directed.“ The guy's dangerous! You’re extremely lucky he didn’t take you back there by force.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” Irina apologized. “I just was upset back then about Jenny.”

“I understand why you did it just, next time, be careful with who you say it too. Okay?” He asked.

“Okay.” Irina murmured.

Immediately, Irina drew the field glasses to where she and Glenn heard gunfire. She saw Alice and Carl hugging,

“Well, that’s new.” Irina voiced her thought aloud, instantly regretted it.

“Huh? What’s new?” Glenn asked.

She didn’t dare tear her eyes away from the scene she was watching. She knew it would create suspicion.

 “Oh-uh-just another walker by the gate,” She replied.

“Uh-huh. ” Glenn returned, not buying into what his younger sister said.

Irina sighed a silent cheer of relief when she thought her brother bought the lie. From the looks of it, Carl was about to walk away.

“No! What are you doing, idiot?! She likes you and I know you like her!” she growled in thought.

She was so entranced by the moment unfolding before her eyes, she didn’t know her eldest brother’s hand hovering above her head. It grappled the binoculars out of her hand.

“My turn!” Glenn said, smirking.

“Wha-Wait! Glenn!” Irina shouted trying to reach for the bulky eyeglasses however, Glenn held her back by placing a hand on her hand as he uses another to operate the binoculars. Glenn could not believe what he was seeing.

  Later, the sun started to unsheath itself from the light dotted blanket. Somehow, Carl ended up sitting in a chair nearby with Alice sitting front of him on the small portion that wasn’t taken by him.

“It's dawn," Alice said as she took note of the sun. “Come on, let’s get back.” While holding Carl’s hand, she gets up from her spot. Carl, not letting go of her hand, got up as well. The only time they let go of each other’s hand was when they had to climb down the ladder, Glenn and Irina show up, and before they went into the prison. Glenn and Irina met up with them right after that. Alice and Carl let go of each other's hands. Alice smelled the flower the entire way.

They walk into the prison and separate into their cells. Alice saw her father passed out on the lower bunk. She crept up onto her bunk, careful not to wake him. She laid there, looking at the ceiling, thinking of what just happened.

 Now she knew what Carl was in this weird big family of hers, dare she say it? Yes, she would, her boyfriend. She never had a boyfriend before, her friends before the apocalypse, talked about them or had one. One thing was certain, she did not want to let her father find out. Not for her safety but, Carl’s.

Alice fell asleep and had a good dream. The dream was about her and Daryl fighting off walkers. Much similar to the dreams she had in the hotel. Except, her father didn't get bit this time. Instead, they killed all of them. One pile of walkers on her side and one on Daryl’s side. She has been having these dreams since she first arrived in the prison. Since she saw her father again.

While Alice slept through the day, Carl sat in his cell block, daydreaming about Alice. Occasionally, he thought about what happened last night. Is he her boyfriend now? Does he have to give her flowers every day? All of the sudden Glenn walks into his cell block,

"Can I come in?” he asked though Carl didn't notice. He was too busy listening to the harps on cloud 9. "Carl… Oh, look Alice is awake. "Glenn said calmly. Carl jumped up in surprise.

"Wha-huh-oh Glenn it's just you.” Carl stammered as he snapped out of his daydream.

 "Can I come in? Or is this a bad time?” Glenn asked again.

"Yeah, You can come in,” Carl replied. Glenn sits beside Carl,

“Anything you want to tell me?". Carl, unsure of what Glenn means, however, having a feeling, he shakily replied

"Tell you what? W-what do you mean?".

 "Last night, you, Alice, the kiss. You weren't exactly alone in these parts.” Glenn tells him smugly. Carl's eyes bulged out of his eye sockets as the scarlet color returned to his cheeks. Before Carl had the time to compose himself or utter a single word, Glenn piped in with,

"You know, you have to tell your dad right?".

"Wh..what why?" Carl barely got out.

"Oh, so you aren’t denying it happened?" Glenn smirked.

"I..." although Carl failed to defend himself, it didn't stop him from him from giving Glenn a scowl.

Glenn’s smirk extends and said, “Alice might tell Daryl and you may need protection.". Carl stood up and kicked Glenn's shin lightly,

"Now you're just trying to freak me out! Alice wouldn't do that!" He hissed.

 Glenn lost whatever composure he had," Hey you're the one who walked further into the lion's den then I did!". Glenn stands up "Still need to tell your dad.” he stated as he walked away. Carl huffed at his remark and got up also. After a few hours, he was with Judith when he heard Alice calling his name.

Carl turned around to see Alice walking towards himself. "What's up?" That was a loaded question and she had no idea how loaded.

"Glenn saw us last night!" Carl couldn't help spitting it out like that.

“I know; Irina saw taa. Now, she and Beth are on my tail and won’t get off.” She gritted her teeth.

 "Saw what?" Daryl chose just that moment to walk up, too. "Oh, I get it. I walk in and everyone shuts up?"

"Makes a guy think you're talking about him" Glenn, popping out of nowhere, whispered into Carl’s ear, in a teasing manner.

 "Lion's den, man. Lion's den!"

However, Carl heard "Deadman. Dead man.” Before Carl can say a word, it's Alice for the save!

"Uh-umm I-think-Carl-is-my-boyfriend, Dad." Alice sputtered quickly.

 Carl gave her a sideways, ‘why would you tell him that!?’, glance.

Could it be any more awkward? Yes, as Rick suddenly appeared,

 "I’m sorry. What?”

"Dad." Now, Carl has no clue what to say. So, it goes something like this...

"I think we're boyfriend, and girlfriend, now. Is that ok?" Carl wished he hadn't said it the second it came out flying out of his mouth. Daryl is the first to reply,

"WHAT?"

 _"This is goin' great."_ Alice thought sarcastically. She looks over at Irina. She knew she couldn’t help her but, they still shared aiding glimpses with each other. Now, how do they get out of this?

"Wait, Dad, hand me yer crossbow.” Did she just say that? Glenn couldn't laugh anymore hysterically as the others join them, by now.

"What’s going on?” Carol demanded. Glenn finally manages to get out with what little breath he had left

"THEY'RE DATING!" and those were the last words Glenn Rhee could utter.

“I wouldn’t be laughing if I were you, Glenn. You were in Carl’s shoes not too long ago.” Hershel spoke up.

Immediately, Glenn’s laughter was replaced with the silence and a flushed face. Irina and Noemi giggled at their brother’s actions.

“Why do ya want my crossbow?” Daryl asked, completely ignoring the commotion in the background.

“Because, I don't want Carl ta die!” Alice explained.

Daryl looks at his daughter for a second, then Carl, and back to Alice. Next, he laughed. Alice began to look around at the others for a little help.

“Are ya kiddin’ me. Like I’d ever actually kill Carl!” Daryl laughed.

Everyone gawked at him, they were sure that Daryl would kill him.

"Can't get any damn privacy around here!" Carl snarled.

"Yeah...and proly never will now." Daryl stared him down, thickening his accent to make it seem he was infuriated before bursting with laughter.


	15. Chapter Fourteen

Alice had seemed rather startled  that her father took things so well with her and Carl. She didn’t think he’d be okay with her dating at all. She heard so many stories in the past where the girl’s dad didn’t allow her to date. Perhaps she was wrong to listen to them.

Since then, they have met a few prisoners that were in the prison before the outbreak happened. Alice only knew the names of Axel and Oscar from that group.  She only knew Axel’s name because, he kept checking out Beth which, caused Carol to go into ‘Mother mode’.

Now, dinner was being eaten by Beth, Noemi, Hershey, and Carol. Alice and Carl were arm wrestling while Irina was the referee. Alice’s machete was by her right foot, leaning on of the legs of the table. 

The rest of the group had gone after the Governor to retrieve their friend, Andrea. The kids and Carol were supposed to look after Hershel and the Baby. Carl was the first to object but, after a few reasons from Alice, he complied.

Finally, after struggling for about a minute, Alice slammed Carl’s hand into the table.

“Ha! I win!”Alice chanted.

“Aw come on! That’s the second time you’ve won!” Carl exclaimed.

“Technically, Three times.”Irina corrected.

“That didn’t count! I wasn’t ready!” Carl whined.

“Excuses. Excuses,” Alice said as she rolled her eyes.

“Fine, best two out of three!” he huffed with his cheeks puffed an angry red.

“Don’t ya mean, best four out of five.” She teased.

“Whatever. All I know is I’m winning this time!” He shouted.

“Ha! In your dreams, city boy!”Alice smirked as she laid her arm up at a ninety-degree angle on the cafeteria table. Just as they were about to start, Carol spoke to them, picking up plates from Noemi, Beth, and Hershel in the process.

“Hey! How about the two of you put the game on hold and one of you join me for a look out session.”

Carl and Alice exchanged gazes at each other, “We’ll finish this later, city boy.” Alice grinned. “I’ll go!” she announced as she grabbed her machete.

“Irina. Do you want to come with us?” Carol asked.

“Uh…sure!” Irina said. “Let me just grab my tomahawk.”

“Ya do know that won’t do ya a lick of good for ya, far away, right?”Alice asked. She couldn’t help feel like her father had possessed her from a distance at that moment. She also noticed her accent was getting thicker the more she spent more time with him.

“Yeah, I know but, I don’t know how to use a gun,” Irina explained.

“Well, I can teach you,” Carol said.

“Okay!” Irina cheered as she followed

Carol and Alice headed up the same tower she and Glenn were last night. Carol had a sniper again while, Alice had the sniper pistol from the night before. She was growing fond of it. Not that she didn’t like her machete because, that always came first beforehand any other weapons.

Irina eyed the sniper for a minute before Alice suggested she use her sniper pistol. Although they were teaching Irina to shoot, Carol started a conversation with Alice,

"Where did you learn to shoot?".

 "Carl showed me," Alice replied. She tried to restrain from giggling however, it clawed her throat raw until she unleashed it. It was a cutesy laugh that a girl like her would most likely never utter. Alice bit her lower lip. "Did I just giggle like that? How embarrassin’."Alice mentally cringed at herself.

“Carl and Alice sitting in a tree.”Irina chanted with a whisper.

“Just ya wait, Irina! When ya meet someone ya like, I’m gonna tease ya so hardcore!”Alice snapped as heat captured her cheeks. Irina smirked as she listened to Carol.

  "Carl? Is that how you two got together?"Carol smiled slyly.

"M-maybe," she stuttered.

Their conversation came to a brief halt when the sound from Irina's gun ripped through the air. She didn’t shoot any walkers but, at least, she knew where to aim. After Alice introduced her the technique Carl taught Alice, finally she hit a walker.

“Yes! I did it!” Irina cheered. After using it a few more times, she handed Alice the gun back and grabbed the binoculars she grabbed along the way to the tower.

Alice looked at Carol.

 _"Now_ ’s _my chance!"_ she thought.

"Speaking of relationships, When are ya going ta tell my father about ya likin’ him?"Alice asked, displaying a sly fox grin upon her face.

Carol was shocked, how did she know that she had a crush on Daryl?

 "I..I don't know what you're talking about?" Carol stuttered

“Oh puh-lease! I saw it the first week I was here.”Alice claimed.

Carol paused before chuckling at Alices behavior.

"What gave it away?" she asked.

 Alice just smirked, "The looks ya twa give each other.”

“Each other?” Carol asked.

“Yeah. He gives ya the same looks. Ya should start looking back  more.”Alice answered. Her eyes sparkled with joy.

 "Does he, now?" she inquired.

“Of course! Hello? Ya think I don't notice these things?"

Alice smirked. Carol let out more giggles.No other words were spoken. Both smiled as they watched for walkers...or  The Governor, just in case.

While that was going on, the group was settled by the perimeter around the Governor’s city. They have no idea the trouble that is about to unfold at the prison. For The Governor had sent his crew of henchmen, with a truckload of walkers to attack the prison and take prisoners. The children to be exact. Michonne took his daughter away from him and therefore, he would take away something that’s fairly equivalent to what she did to him.

The group is busy planning their infiltration while the Governor's team is headed towards the prison, which was guarded by two adults, one’s disabled, and five children.

Back at the Prison, Irina’s sits, diligently, staring through the binoculars, watching and waiting. She will not miss a trick if an enemy shows their face. There it was! It looked like cars but, their group wasn’t expected back for a long time. Then, she got a good look at one particular vehicle. Oh no, there is a caravan headed straight for the prison!

 "Guys, we should get to the prison like now. " Irina warned.

“What? Why?” Alice asked.

Irina just handed her the field glasses. Alice took a glance in and immediately agreed with her dark haired friend.After explaining what they saw to Carol, she and Carol, take off down the ladder, to the prison, with Irina right behind them. They get inside and, without a breath. Alice yelled,

"Hershel! Get Beth, Noemi, and Judith ta the boiler room and lock the doors! Don't come out until ya hear silence! GO!"

 Hershel knew Alice wouldn't say it if it was not serious. They did as they were instructed. Beth had Judith while Noemi tried to help Hershel.

“Alice, what’s going on?” Carl asked. Baffled by his girlfriend's sudden behavior.

“The fuckin bastard’s ambushin’ us while, our group is out!” Alice shouted.  Carl knew what she meant.

“The Governor’s here? What the hell for? We don't have anything they need! Shit!” Carl exclaimed.

“Don’t know but, whatever it is. He ain’t gettin’ it!”Alice replied, whipping her machete from her sheath. Irina went to go get her tomahawk.

 It didn't take long before the Governor's team rammed the gates and launched tear gas bombs everywhere. One broke a window to the prison exploded. Causing the three of children of the apocalypse to lose their sights and voices to water and smoke.

Next, Alice was on the ground but just before she passed out, she saw blurs of colors being taken away out of sight. The colors looked an awful like the colors from the clothing of Irina and Carl. She tried to move but, the gas consumed her. Then, everything faded to black.

  *****

Alice fluttered her eyes open. She tried to get up but she was a little weak. She whirled her head around the room. It was dimly lit by dangling ceiling lamps. Chains hooked to the walls. Eventually, her eyes found Carl, tied up by the chains on the other side of the room as well as Irina on the other side. She tried to extract her machete but, something prickly and scratchy restricting her arms.She moved her head at an angle to reveal that she had a rope around her wrists. She strained her mouth the speak aloud but to no avail, the tape had covered her pink lips. When she heard chains rattling. She drew her attention back to Carl, who was currently awake.

 Carl struggled as well with his voice. Then, he began to move the chains around. At one point tried to stand but, failed due to being tired. All the noise caused Irina to awaken as well.  Alice muffled to him to stop.

The door finally opened and there he was. The Governor.  The three kids look up to him. He walked over to Carl and removed the piece of silver tape holding his mouth shut. He did the same to the other two girls. They all noticed he had gauze wrapped around his eye like an eye patch.

“Finally awake, are you? You three are probably are wondering why you are here.” The Governor said.

Alice would’ve said some snarky remark if she hadn’t been so curious as to why they were brought here. Couldn’t they have just killed them? Unless that’s not what he wants. If that’s the case, what does he want?

“ Well, since your friend Michonne saw fit to kill my daughter....” The Governor semi-explained before he was interrupted by Irina.

“About time, someone killed your WALKER daughter.” Irina taunted.

The Governor drew his attention to the little Korean girl.

“You’re Glenn’s little sister, right?”He asked, crouching to her level.

“Yeah, what of it?” Irina inquired.

“I'm pretty sure he wouldn’t want to see his sister locked up in that cage as a walker, now would he?” He asked.

Irina cringed in fear at the possibility he could do that. Her brother was right, maybe she should keep her mouth shut.

“Ya do it and ya won't have ta worry about Michonne! I'll kill ya. myself, ya piece of shit!” Alice growled. Carl wanted to tell her to be quiet but if they were going to die, might as well tell this asshole off, first! 

Now, the Governor walked over to her, crouched down and grabbed her by the cheeks with his right hand to the point he could feel her cheek bone. This didn’t bother Alice one bit. Sure it was painful but, she knew she could use that to her advantage later. The more evidence her father sees that The Governor might have caused, it’s game over.  After this, more than one set of chains echoed throughout the area.

“Big talk from a such a little thing and all tied up, at that.” He sneered.

Alice displayed her best ‘go to hell’ look at him. Then, she shook it off of her face. Once The Governor's hand was loose, she launched forward and tried to bite it. The Governor dodged this resulting in Alice to face plant into the ground. She’s lucky the ground was straw and dirt otherwise, her nose would’ve been broken. 

“As much as I like your spirit firecracker, you're still an amateur at thinking things through. Unlike the archer.” He said.

When Alice lifted and tilted her head to the northwest of her. She asked as she raised an eyebrow.

“The Archer?”She asked.

“Yes, the Archer. You know your father.” He clarified.

Alice stared at him for a second, then Irina, to Carl. Then back to The Governor.

“Wow. Yer more of a dumbass than I thought,”Alice said with an unsure sarcastic expression on her face.

“Excuse me?!”He gasped.

“Ya heard me. An archer has a standard bow and arrow. My Dad has a bow connected ta a gun that has arrows included. Makin’ it a crossbow. Furthermore, he is a hunter with a crossbow. If yer gonna give nicknames ta people based off their weapons, get yer weapons right first!”Alice expounded in a hiss.

The Governor paused for a minute, thinking it through. Technically, she is right.

“Well, someone knows their weapons,” He smirked.

“Yeah, well, I was trainin’ ta be a hunter before this world went ta shit,” Alice explained with pride puffing into her chest.

“What did I say about that mouth!” He growled.

“Clearly, ya need yer eyes checked because, I don’t give a fuck!”Alice retorted.

Before the Governor could smack her, someone called for him. The children to look to see a nerdy looking guy, dirty blonde hair, glasses, with a plaid shirt.

“What?! I’m busy!” He barked.

“The other captive’s not giving any information about the Prison,” He said.

 _“Another captive? Does that mean he got someone else back at the prison?”_ Alice wondered. The only she could think of the other prisoner was Carol.

 _“I hope she’s alright.”_ Alice wished.

The Governor waited for a minute before he let out a huff,

“Alright, I’m coming!” he mumbled as he got up from off the ground. Then, an Idea cracked into his head.

“On second thought,” He said then, looked at Alice.

“Milton, you have the sack, right?” He asked.

“Yeah, why?” He asked, uncertainly as he pulled out the cloth bag. He also questioned himself if he should hand the knapsack over however, it’s not like he had a choice to begin with. He handed him the pack to the Governor.

“ You’re coming with me!” The Governor boomed as he placed the bag over her head.

Alice began to struggle when the bag was slipped on her head and after the Governor yanked her by the arm. She could hear Carl and Irina calling out to them.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you, Grammar Nazi's come at me, and you know who you are. I would like to point out that something that Maggie says that may seem incorrect by grammar standards, however, I feel that's how the character talks. Sorry if it bothers you. It bothers me too but, eh an author has to make sacrifices for stories.

Chapter Fifteen

Meanwhile, back at the prison, everyone but, Daryl, and the few that had died in battle had returned. Since, Daryl always took forever, they let him be. Andrea wouldn't be coming back to the prison. They found her but, she had been tied up in the room, by the Governor, with a walker. Sadly, she was bitten and she would turn. It was a heart-wrenching decision, but Andrea wanted Michonne to be the one to take care of it when the time came. In spite of everything, the group seemed cool. Could this be the way life was now? However, their calmness came to an abrupt end when they returned and saw how many more walkers had appeared and the poor conditioned the prison was.

Immediately, Glenn became worried about his sisters. Once they cleared the area of some walkers they fixed the gates and parked the cars in the gates. Everyone rushed inside to find Noemi taking care of Carol, who had suffered a head injury and  Beth was taking care of Judith and Hershel.

Glenn was relieved when he found his youngest sibling but, wait, where’s his other sibling? Rick noticed his son was not there to open the gates and shared Glenn’s panic. Rick ran over to Beth to take his daughter and Glenn went over to Carol and Noemi. Nobody noticed Maggie going over to Hershel.

“Carol what happened? Where’s Irina, Alice, and Carl?” Glenn asked.

“The Governor ambushed us while you were out!” Carol explained.

“What?!” Rick gawked.

“They threw tear gas bombs. I tried to get to the kids but, they were already being taken! We couldn't breathe. That son of a bitch!" She exclaimed.

This changed Glenn’s and Rick’s emotion from worried to anger in a millisecond. Rick was the first one to start packing back up to retrieve the kids. Glenn followed after him.

“Rick! Hold on!”Glenn cried.

“What?!” He asked.

“ You need a plan!” He reasoned.

          “I have one,” Rick stated as he gave Judith back to Beth.

          “Glenn’s right. You don’t even know where they are!”Maggie asked.

          “Doesn’t matter. I’m going to find them!” Rick reasoned.

          “Okay, well let me and Glenn go with you,” Maggie said. “I'm pretty sure we know where he took them!” She explained.

          Rick paused as he thought it through. Glenn and Maggie were taken not too long ago by the Governor themselves. Finally, he came to a decision. Before he said anything, he looked over at Glenn for confirmation.

          “Don’t have to ask me twice!” Glenn stated.

          “Alright, let’s go.” Rick declared.

          After that, Rick, Glenn, and Maggie packed ammunition before heading out to find the children of the group. The others would remain behind.

        *****

                   Meanwhile, back at Woodberry, Alice struggled against the restraining rope around her wrists, the sack wrapped around her head, and the hold the Governor had on her arm. It was dark and smelled foul in the bag which made Alice wondered if the Governor put this thing on walkers.

Soon, she heard a door open. Both walked into the mysterious room. There could be heard an ear pitching squeal on the floor and another presence could be felt. The presence felt somewhat familiar and robust. Next thing she knew, she was being shoved down onto something to sit.

At last, the blasted thing on her head was gone. Then, she saw something the shocked and infuriated her to the core. The Governor had kidnapped her father!

“Dad!”She called out.

“Alice!” Daryl shouted. Shock wouldn't begin to describe the emotions going through him, right then and anger wouldn't even be close! “Ya, son of a Bitch! Let ‘er go! She’s got nothin ta do with this!” he yelled, twisting and raging in an attempt to free himself from his bonds.

The Governor frowned upon this, “But, Archer, that’s not true. She is your daughter and she did take property from me.”

Daryl snarled, seeming more like a rabid dog than a human, "Man, ya better hope like hell I don't get out of this! Cause when I do and I will, yer gonna be first!"

Alice broke in right then. "Ya, sick son of a bitch! Ya really think this is a good plan? I got news fer ya! There ain't nothin ya gonna do that ya won't pay fer! Guaranteed, Mother Fucker!"

"I've got to hand it to you, Archer." The Governor leaned down into Daryl's face. "She's a little spitfire!"

Daryl glanced up to look his captor directly in his eyes. His own eyes glared from beneath his matted tasseled hair. He looked almost amused, as he spoke to the Governor, in a hushed whisper,

"Yeah? Ya ain't seen nothin', yet!"

The Governor frowned upon this, he walked over to Alice. He lifted her head by her hair and pulled a knife out to her neck. Alice’s face was stricken with fear that she hadn’t felt since they day of the apocalypse.

Daryl rustled in his binds. He hadn’t seen that face on his daughter in two years and he’d be damned if he sees it now. Suddenly, he broke the powerfully binding rope with just his strength.

The Governor heard the snap of the rope and knew what happened. He removed the Machete from Alice’s neck and Daryl charged at him. Carl and Irina heard a loud thud in the room next to theirs.

 _“Alice, Please be okay!”_ they thought.

Daryl had slammed the Governor against the wall.  The Governor's guards came in, knocked Daryl to the ground, bound his hands behind his back, and put the same sack that Alice had on awhile ago onto his head. They lifted him up off the ground.

“Sir, I wanted to let you know that Merle is causing commotion again,” they said.

The Governor huffed at this news. Merle could be such a pain in his ass sometimes.

“Alright. I’ll be there in a minute.” He sighed.

He took a glance at Daryl, who was struggling to break free again. Then he formed an awful, wonderful Idea. He took Daryl by the arm as he struggled.

“You, stay put!” The Governor ordered to Alice before leaving.

“My dad’s gonna kick yer sorry ass when this is all done!” she hollered back a retort. 

After they had gone, she saw the Governor was stupid enough to leave her machete behind.

“Fuckin idiot,”She stated as she got up to sit down near it. She picked it up after many failed attempts and lowered herself by a wall. She places the blade toward her. After making sure it was perfect, she sat down in front of it and began to saw her way through the ropes.

Meanwhile, back with Rick, Glenn, and Maggie, who just arrived to see commotion going on in the middle of town. They decided to use this to their advantage. They already knew the plan, Glenn and Maggie find the kids while Rick finds Daryl. Then, they would sneak back to the prison.

They went to the obnoxiously loud arena filled with people just to make sure that the kids weren’t involved. Everyone seemed too distracted to notice them. It was Daryl, Merle, and a walker that their attention was on. 

“The two of you will fight. If you win Archer, your firecracker of a daughter, and the others get to go freely. If Merle wins, they stay!” They heard the Governor say.

“Not if we get them out,” Maggie stated. “C’mon let’s go!”

“Right behind you!” Glenn said even though he knew she couldn’t hear him over the loud. Crowd.

Like that, they were off before the fight could begin. After, sneaking around the town, they reach the room that Glenn and Maggie were first being held in. They opened it to find Carl chained up to the wall.

“Dad!” Carl gasped.

 They automatically ran to him and release him from his chains. Carl twisted his wrist in his other hand to gain the feeling back in it. That’s when Glenn noticed his sister was not with him or Alice.

“Carl, where are Irina and Alice!?” Glenn asked, letting more panic seep into his voice than he had intended.

“The Governor took Alice to the room next door and someone took Irina. I don’t know where she is.”He explained.

Glenn glanced at Rick as if he was asking permission to find his sister.

“Go. We'll find Alice and catch up with you later,” Rick commanded in an understanding tone.

With that, Glenn was off to find his sister. He already knew that she wasn’t with Carl or Alice because, Carl would’ve said Alice and Irina were taken by the Governor not, just Alice. Glenn didn’t know where else she could be that would have a better security system.

Then, he remembered Alice had mentioned something about Jenny finding his turned daughter locked in a cage behind his office. If he knew Irina was Jenny’s sister then he would put her there as a revenge type of thing!

Quickly and quietly he snaked his way to the town hall, which was tremendously guarded but, somehow he managed to sneak through. Everything was either white or blue colored. Finally, he achieves his goal of finding the Governor's office. He opened the door to find a desk, lamp, a book, and chairs. Then, he spotted an extra door.

“This must be the room Alice was talking about.”Glenn thought. He whipped out the ax that had been strapped onto his back the entire time. He opened the door to find his sister strapped with duck tape on her wrists, broken glass on the floor and water, a few walker heads, and a walker within a few feet from her. Suddenly, he felt like fire from a thousand suns.

“When I get my hands on that son of a bitch, he'll wish he would’ve  turned into a walker in the begin of the apocalypse!” his thoughts raged.

Irina jumped up when she saw Glenn.

“Thank god he’s here!” Irina thought  as she inwardly let out a sigh of relieve. “I didn't know if I'd get this tape off in time.”

In several swift motions, Glenn killed the walker and walker heads with his ax. Then, he traded his ax for a regular hunting knife. Finally, he was able to help Irina out of her imprisonment. He rotated her around so, he could cut the duck tape. He noticed the already hole in it and freshly bleeding scratches from, what he could guess was, her trying to cut the tape off with a piece of the cage, herself. He smirked, he knew his younger sister wasn’t a defenseless lamb but, he had no idea she was this smart. Most kids would’ve just waited for when their abductor freed them or wait until help came. Not Irina, she tried. He couldn’t help but, feel pride in her. Also, thankful because, he knew Alice had something to do with that.

He cut the tape off, sending Irina’s arm forward, to her sides. 

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“Yes, I’m fine.”She nodded.

“Good,” Glenn said as pulled her close to his embrace. “ I lost you once and I’m not about to lose  you again

Irina returned his hug, clutching on to the back of his gray t-shirt. Although, Glenn wanted to stay and just hold his sister, he had to go back to the group. Glenn removed himself from the hug.

“Come on. We 've got to get to the others,” he said as he started to walk away.

“Um, Glenn?” Irina asked.

“What?” he asked prior to when he turned around.

“I-um-need my shoe.”Irina’s whimper trailed off.

“Wait. What?”Glenn questioned. He looked down to find that she indeed was missing her right shoe and her sock had been pushed to the knuckles of her foot, which was standing on it toes to avoid the sharp glass.

“Where did your shoe go?” he inquired.

“Well, I was going to use my bat toes to close the gate but, my sock wouldn’t come off so, I kicked my shoe over there so the walker would be distracted,” She explained then, pointed by the door.

Glenn gawked at her before covering his mouth so he couldn’t laugh at what he just heard. She was going to use her oddly shaped toes to close the gate, gave up and decided to distract the walker with her shoe.

Irina noticed this, “Glenn! It’s not funny!” she exclaimed, playful punching his arm.

This only caused more laughter from Glenn as he walked over to retrieve her shoe. While Glenn was retrieving her shoe, she pulled up her sock to past her ankle. Once Glenn gave her shoe back, she put it on and both Rhees were off back to the group. They saw Rick and Maggie with Alice and Carl. They ran over to them. Glenn went over to Maggie to hug and kiss her.

“Glenn, Irina. Good, you’re here.”Rick said. “We have some smoke bombs from the weaponry. All we need to do now is let Daryl in on the plan.”

“Okay but, how are we going to tell him when he’s fighting with Merle?” He asked.

“Dad's fighting Uncle Merle? This I gotta see!”Alice expounded with excitement.

“Well, now you can,” Rick said, leading the way through the crowd. Once they get to the front, they stop and wait for Daryl to notice them.

In the middle of Merle and Daryl’s fight, Daryl’s looked up to see Rick, Maggie, Glenn, Carl, Irina, and Alice. At first, he was shocked but, he smirked as he realized that he should’ve seen their appearance coming.

Then, he felt Merle barrel into him. Merle looked down his brother.

“What’s the matter baby bother? I know ya have more fight in ya than that?!” He exclaimed.

“Yeah, I know,” Daryl said. “But, if ya look in the crowd ya can see our ticket outta here!” he growled. Then he tripped his bigger brother to make it less serious.

Merle looked over into the crowd too and sure enough, found a part of the sheriff’s group including Rick himself. When, Merle got up, he didn’t expect his brother to put him in a loose choke hold.

“Well-I-be-damned, little brother. Yer friends are here.”He said as he gripped Daryl’s arm and ripped it off his neck. Now, they were back to back, facing the walker which, Merle killed with ease since he had a knife for a hand. They also gave Rick a nod.

Then they threw the smoke bombs into the arena. After that, everyone ran amuck except the Governor. Daryl and Merle eventually found Rick and them. Daryl hugged his daughter before they all ran to the gates ran out of it. Leaving it open for the dead to trudge in any given moment. Rick, Carl, Glenn, Irina, ect., found a bus to drive back,  which gradually filled over the time with a lot of people from Woodberry as each of them got in it. While, Daryl, and Alice rode  on Daryl’s motorcycle.


	17. Chapter Sixteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Note: This is where it might be disturbing if you can handle girl type things, go ahead. If you can’t, please skip this and don’t complain that I didn’t warn you because, I did.*

Chapter Sixteen

 

Back at the prison, the bus had arrived, as well as Daryl’s motorcycle. Soon the bus threw up the people in it, including the group. As soon as Daryl’s bike was parked, Alice jumped off the bike to find Carl and Irina.

Finally, she found them in the large crowd of people in Cell Block B.

“Irina! Carl!”Alice cheered as she ran up and hugged her.

Irina tensed up. Since when did Alice hug? Last time she hugged her, she was stiffer than a table. No matter to her, though, she returned her brunette friend’s hug. Next, she ran over to Carl, who she not only hugged but, also gave him a quick kiss. Which, he gladly returned it. After staying like that for a minute or two, they finally pulled apart.

“I’m  so glad yer alright! He didn’t hurt either of ya, did he?”Alice asked in a growl

“Well I’m alright but, what about you Irina?”Carl asked.

Irina shivered at the remembrance of where the Governor put her and with what.

“Uh-heh- Remember how Jenny found the Governor’s daughter?” Irina asked.

“Yeah,” Alice replied.

“They put me in the cage with a walker,” she explained.

“That motha f....!” Alice started Carl quickly put his hand over her mouth.

 "Calm down. You do a lot of that swearing. Save it for when his sorry ass is in front of us!" He managed a slight chuckle, while Alice started to fume, inside.

"Seriously? Tellin’ me what to say about....." That’s when Alice noticed the scratches on Irina's wrists. They looked practically healed and it looked as if blood had smeared a little bit. Alice began to sweat a little however, she didn’t want to assume things. She pushed Carl's playful cover from her mouth.

“Irina, where’d ya get those scratches?” She asked. Carl stopped smiling and looked at the scratches Alice was talking about.

Irina lifted her wrist to look at them, she almost forgot about it.

“Oh, I got them from a piece of metal I was trying to get the tape off with.”Irina clarified.

Alice felt relieved after hearing this statement. She did not want her best friend to be infected as she originally thought. She would never forgive herself if  anything happened to Irina.

The scratches reminded her of when she got her first scar. It was after the apocalypse already started, she was using her machete to help cut some duck tape that she had been using to make something out of pure boredom. The blade had finally cut the tape after thousands of struggles however, it didn’t just cut the tape, it bit her thumb deeply. Alice panicked at first but, there was only a slit in her skin. Blood didn’t poor from it until her attention was no longer on it. It was the amount of blood that shook Alice to her core. Nevertheless, it was all well and good when, she cleaned the wound as well as bound it together with glue and duck tape.

“Not bad,” Alice giggled with a smirk. “Now, ya have an awesome story ta tell when, ya meet someone new.”

“Right, because that was the plan!” Irina cheered, playfully.

After that, the three went inside the prison met new people, ate, and went to bed. The next day, the new people frightened most of the group but, remembered that they had taken them in from Woodberry.

When Alice awoke, she noticed her father was nowhere to be seen.

          “Maybe he’s on watch?” Alice thought.

She immediately headed toward the towers. On her way there, she spotted Noemi talking and eating with one of the newest kids of the group. She had blonde hair and brown eyes. She looked about an age or two older than Noemi herself.

“What was her name again?”Alice wondered. “ Oh yeah, Mika! That’s right!”.

Finally, she reached her destination to find her father staring out at the world, watching the walkers go by.

“Hey, Dad! Alice chirped.

Daryl turned their heads to Alice.

“Mornin Lil Ass Kicker. How’d ya sleep?”Daryl asked.

“Good. How 'bout ya?”Alice inquired.

“Never better,” He replied.

Alice sat down in the nearby chair of the right. She crossed her left foot over her right out of habit.

 Out of the blue, Daryl questioned Alice about Carol.

"What do ya think of Carol?".

"She's nice,” Alice replied. _“Why is he asking?”_ She wondered. She knew her father and there was always a reason behind his questioning. _“Unless he wants reassurance, but reassurance for what?”_ she pondered. Then it hit her. _“Maybe he is actually thinking about confessing!”_ Alice thought.

“That reminds me,” Alice spoke, replying to her own thoughts than her father’s question. “Why haven't ya told her?” Alice asked innocently.

"Told her what?” Daryl said confusingly.

Alice took a minute to reply "That ya like her.” Alice teased.

Daryl was shocked," Wha-how-ya...ya mind yer business!". 

 "Oh, so ya do like her?” Alice smirked with an eyebrow raise. Daryl didn't know who to respond. All his life he had been hearing that parents are supposed to tease their kids but, here he was being teased by his own daughter! 

"Ya know she likes ya taa?"Alice replied, half asking half telling.

Daryl stopped his thoughts dead in their tracks "Sh...she does?" he asked.

 "Uh yeah! God, what's with ya twa being so oblivious?"Alice giggled.

Daryl smiled "Ya know taa much!".

 Alice formed a smile, matching her father’s "Maybe.".

There was a short pause before Carol announced herself.

“Oh. Hi, Alice! Hi, Daryl!” She said.

“Hey,” Daryl replied.

“Hi!” Alice beamed _. “And this is my cue ta exit.”_ She thought.

“Now’s yer chance, Dad!” She whispered, then skipped her way over to the ladder and climbed down. Hoping her father would take the opportunity. After that, she went back to her cell block.

** _*Reminder because, I know a lot of  you will forget the beginning  note: This is where it might be disturbing if you can handle girl type things, go ahead. If you can’t, please skip this and don’t complain that I didn’t warn you because, I did.*_ **

She found Irina talking among herself, looking like a tired bat out of hell. Her arms were wrapped around her stomach.  Quickly she went in her cell,

“Irina, what’s wrong?”Alice asked.

Irina looked up at her, “My stomach hurts!”She hissed.

“Okay, well have ya eaten?” Alice questioned.

“Yes,” Irina replied.

“Maybe it’s something ya ate,” Alice explained.

“No! It doesn’t hurt like a stomache!” Irina said before, she cringed at the pain producing in her stomach, gripping it even harder.

“Wait, yer stomach hurts but, it ain’t a stomache?”Alice asked.

Irina only lets out a small groan of discomfort and a nod as a form of account.

“Irina, I’m going ta need ya taa stand up. Can ya stand or do ya need help?” Alice demanded, acting more like a concerned sister than a friend.

Irina once again only gave a small nod. Taking it as she answered the second question she asked, Alice went over to her to slowly hoist her up. Next, Irina latched onto Alice’s arm, who was pretty sure that her arm would be bruised and slightly bloodied later from that. Alice glanced down at the spot that Irina was once sitting. There was a deep scarlet apple sized spot.

“Yup, just as I feared.”Alice voiced her thought aloud, remembering the time she first started hers. Jenny was with her to tell her everything and helped out.  She sat her raven haired friend back down on the bed. Irina instantly lets go of Alice’s arm to grapple her stomach once more.

“ Yer right, it ain’t a stomache. It’s yer period. Um, welcome to adulthood?”Alice announced. After she did this and got no reaction, she figured that her friend was in too much pain to even talk. “Yer not hearing a word I’m saying are ya?” She asked. Irina shook her head for an answer.

“’Ight, so Irina I’m gonna need ya ta stay there. I’m gonna get Beth!”Alice ordered.

“Not like I have a fucking option!” Irina thought angrily.

With that, she set out to find and of course when she did, she was feeding Judith her baby formula.

“Hey, Beth!”Alice called.

“Hey, Alice! What are you up to?” Beth asked.

“Oh, nothin much. I gott-ah-weird question fer ya. Um…Have ya started?”Alice inquired, heat rose to her cheeks when she asked this.

Not having a clue what she was asking, Beth requested,

“Started what?”

“Y-ya kn-know. Th-that thing that c-comes once a month?” She trailed off, blushing even more.

“O-oh! Yeah. Why do you ask? Are you starting yours?” Beth asked.

“Uh, no. Irina’s starting hers for the first time and it’s causing her a lot of pain. I need to get her Ibprophen.” Alice explain.

“Ah, okay. I’ll go ask my Dad If we have some. I'm sure they got some from town on the last run. ”Beth said.

          With that, Beth with Judith in her arms was off to do just that and Alice went back to Irina. Before she could reach her cell she heard Glenn’s voice projecting from it. He was shouting Maggie’s name, sounding frantic and in dire need of help. When, she had gotten there, Irina was lying on the bed now clutching her stomach. The blood spot on the sheet from earlier now was a smeared along parts of her legs. However, her shorts, that she wore almost every day, were completely ruined with deep crimson blood.

          Glenn took note of Alice, “Alice! Thank God you’re here! Can you watch her while I go get Maggie?” He asked.

          “Oh, ya don’t need ta do that Glenn. I already told Beth ta get Ibprophen from Hershel.” Alice explained.

          “Do we have Ibprophen?” he asked.

          “I don’t know. Beth went ta go find that out. I need ta find her some clean clothes, though. Um..that's yer exit cue. Unless ya want ta help me dress her?”Alice gave Glenn one of those looks she was already famous for.

 "I'm out." Glenn made a quick getaway.  Maggie walked up as Glenn zipped past her. "It's a girl thing," He called out as he passed her like the Tazmanian Devil. Maggie giggled and turned to see Alice shaking her head.

"Beth wanted me to bring these, to you." She had pills in one hand and pads in the other.

 "Wow. I didn't think about the pads." Alice blinked.

"Yeah, the guys act all weird when they make a run and we tell them to make sure and bring as much as possible. They don't get it." She laughed as she handed the pills to Alice.

"Hello! Pain here! Do you two think you can joke later?" Irina was definitely showing those legendary PMS emotions. Her face mimicked an agitated feline. Then, she cringed again for the thousandth time that day.

"This ain't gonna go well," Alice told Maggie. "She's already bitchin! Got anythin’ stronger?" They both lost it. "C'mon, Irina. Maggie was bein serious, now. We need ta get ya ta the showers and clean ya up. Then, ya need ta rest." She ordered in a calm tone. “Rate yer pain from one ta ten,” Alice demanded. Irina held up five fingers then transitioned them into three with one hand. Maggie went out of the cell as Alice did this.“Eight? Jeez.” Alice winced as she popped the lid of the pills. Then, she rattled the opening against the palm of her other hand to get four Ibprophen out.

She handed them to Irina but, she didn’t take them right away. Instead, she gawked at them in confusion and disquiet.

          “What’s the matter?”Alice asked.

          “I-I never took pills before.”Irina stammered.

          “Oh.”Alice gasped.  “Okay then, try taking them one at a time. That’s what I did.”

          “What if I choke on it?” Irina asked before, flinching at the pain in her lower back.

          Alice rolled her eyes, “Ya won’t. I mean If I took them and survived, what makes ya not able ta?” she asked. After Alice gave her piece, Maggie came back with a bottle of water and a white plastic blanket in a baby blue wool sheet. Connected to it was a white cord that went into a remote with buttons on it. The buttons had dots above them. The bottom had one, the middle had two and the tops had three.

          “Here you go Irina,” Maggie said, as she handed the plastic bottle to her husband’s sister. She took the container, unscrewed it, and took a deep breath before, popping a pill in her mouth to swallow it.

          Irina was rather shocked when it went down her throat. She did it again, just to see if it was by pure luck she didn’t choke. Surprising her again, she didn’t choke. After taking the other two, Maggie plugged in the heating pad into the wall. Then, She and Alice helped the Korean girl up off the bed and into the showers. Many people gave them strange looks, asked if she was okay which, annoyed Alice to no end. They clearly saw she was in pain and needed to take a shower so, why try to stop that?

          After Irina was in the shower, Alice waited outside the showers while, Maggie went back to collect the blood stained sheets from Irina’s cell. Alice was sitting in a metal chair that was leaning against the wall. Her arms were folded over her chest and her feet crossed over one another. Anxiety levels were off the charts for Alice. There were many things that were running in her little mind, like what if the pills don’t work or the heating pad doesn’t work? She was so lost in thought she hadn’t noticed Beth pull up next to her, holding Judith in her arms.  

          “You think she is going to be okay?”Beth asked.

Alice jolted out of her seat,

       _“Oh, it’s just Beth.”_ Alice thought. “Uh, yeah she’ll be fine. I taught her how ta be tough.” She stated. Beth nodded in understanding then she balanced the baby on her knee. Judith's eyeballed Alice which, caused her to shift in her seat a little. She has never been around a baby prior to this. Beth noticed this,

          “Do you want to hold her?”She asked.

          “Oh, I don’t know,” Alice trailed off.

          "It's not an 'I don't know" question and answer. Either you do or you don't." Beth laughed. "But since you don't know. Here." Beth handed Judith to Alice, without warning.

          "Um...wait..but." Beth was laughing, uncontrollably. Alice looked at Judith, who was staring at her as if she had never seen her before.

"Well," Alice said. "What do I do, now?"

"You want me to take her?" Beth asked Alice.

"Uh. Nah. It's ok. I got 'er. Lil' twa kinda grows on ya." Alice smirked.

After hearing her newly announced nickname, Judith giggled, clutching onto Alice’s shirt. Trying to make herself feel right at home in Alice’s arms. Surprisingly, the baby was heavier than Alice imagined however, it's nothing she can't handle.

Beth raised an eyebrow, "Little two?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Alice replied. “I heard my Dad call ‘er Little Ass Kicker a few months’ back. It was my nickname before the world went ta hell and back. I was gonna call her that taa but, it just felt weird. So since, she’s the second person ta obtain the title, I call her Lil’ Twa.” She clarified.

“Your dad would be proud!" Beth giggled.


	18. Chapter Seventeen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this one is late! I had writers block for awhile and then, I started getting into other fandoms. However, The Walking Dead is back and I'm back on track! I'll edit it some later. I just wanted to put it on here already.

Chapter Seventeen

After thirty minutes, Irina stumbled out of the bathroom. She was wearing the green tank top and a pair of blue jeans that Maggie left her. Taking note of this occurrence, Alice placed Judith back in Beth’s arms carefully. Then, she went to her best friend’s side.

“Hey, ya alright?”Alice asked.

“Yeah. There is still a little pain but, it’s tolerable now.”Irina explained.

“Well first, did ya put the pad on like Maggie taught ya?”Alice inquired sternly.

“Yeah, she also told me what a period was,” Irina said. 

“Oh okay.” Alice piped up. Deep down, though, she was cautious for her. Even though Irina was showing signs that she would be okay, her face looked like a sight for sore eyes.   Alice would trace her path with her feet, guiding Irina back to her cell.

“I can’t believe I was excited for this,” Irina muttered tiredly, referring to her time of the month.

Alice raised an eyebrow at this, “Ya were excited ta get a period? Why?” she asked.

“Well, I just thought it was a cool thing to get.”Irina shrugged.

Alice shook her head,”Yer so weird sometimes.” she teased.

“Yeah well, You made me that way!” Irina smirked, trying to mimic her friend’s accent but, failed miserably.

“And ya sayin’ that’s a bad thing?” Alice chuckled.

Finally, the duo reached Irina’s and Noemi’s cell. Irina stumbled to the bed with Alice following her. She picked up the heating pad and placed it on the raven haired girl lower back. Then, she grabbed the remote to the pad and clicked the second button, which set it to medium temperature.

“Now, keep this on ya while ya get some rest and ya should be fine,”Alice explained.

“Okay,” Irina replied.

After this, Alice saw herself out of the room when she bumped into someone on the smaller side. She looked down to find Noemi. She was wearing a gray shirt and simple blue jeans.

“Oh hey Noemi,” she piped up.

“Hey, Alice! I heard about Irina. Is she okay?” Noemi asked.

“Yeah, she’s going ta be fine. She just needs ta catch up on her beauty sleep.”Alice explained, ruffling Noemi’s pure black hair.

“Oh. Good. I was worried she wouldn't be.”  The younger of the two answered.

She cringed at the thought of something being awry with her sister. That’s when an idea popped into Alice’s brain.

“Why don’t ya go draw her a picture and give it ta her when she feels better?” she suggested.

Noemi gasped as her eyes widen in excitement, “That’s a great idea! It’ll be the best picture ever! Thanks, Alice!” She beamed then went on a journey to find the paper.

Alice chuckled at her innocence. Thinking how Noemi reminded her of herself when she was young and how adorable she is half of the time.

“Speaking of adorable, I wonder where Carl is?”Alice pondered, realizing she hasn’t seen him all day.

 She set out to find her boyfriend. On the way, she couldn’t help but, notice her father holding Carol’s hand while a bit happier than normal. She smirked at them, knowing she some part in those to being together. Finally, she was in a lower part of another cell block. It was oddly deserted and quiet which put her a little on edge. Normally, she’d see few people here in there in each cell block but, she hadn’t seen a soul in sight. Until, she came to a lower part of the building. She found the one soul she absolutely loathed to her core!

                                      “Well-Well, if it ain’t Miss Kit-Kat.” Merle let out a hardy chuckle.                                                      

Alice jumped out of her skin.  "Really? Are ya still alive? Figured by now, someone woulda put me outta my misery," Alice stated coldly after she regained herself from the shock. Her teeth in her mouth clenched when she realized Merle had used her the nickname he gave her when she was young. _“How dare he use that name after what he did!”_ Alice thought enraged. When one leaves another in a walker-filled city to die because they’re following someone else that they don’t even know tends to make one feel hatred for another.

"Ah now, that ain't no way ta talk ta yer ole' Uncle, is it?" Merle seemed to be enjoying this.

"No, yer right, it ain’t, yer a piece of shit excuse fer a human bein!" She hissed as she walked away. Not before she mustered one last act of sarcasm,

"Is that fuckin better? _UNCLE_?"

Before she could completely leave him be, she heard a shout from Merle.

“I didn’t mean ta leave ya.”

She stopped in her tracks, she glanced at him over her right shoulder and asked: “Come again?”.

“I didn’t mean ta leave ya,” He repeated.

Alice turned her whole body around to face. She gave a fierce glare as she placed a hand on her hip.

“Yer fuckin with me, ain’t-cha?”Alice inquired.

“Ain’t messin’ with ya. I saw ya didn’t trust 'em and I knew yer daddy woulda killed me fer makin’ ya go with a stranger,” he explained.

Alice was going growl a retort back at him but, couldn’t seem to find the right words to pelt him with. She had not trusted the Governor and from what she’s witnessed, she still didn’t. Plus, he was right about one thing, Daryl would have murdered him! However, did he really think to leave her behind would get him a pat on the back from her father?

“So what? Ya thought leavin’ me behind woulda been a betta option?” she hissed.

Merle shrugged, “ I was gonna come back fer ya, kid. But then, there were the walkers and when I sent out scouts ta search fer out survivors but, they came back and told us the whole town was overrun."

Alice just stared at him. In none of the scenarios she had created, in her own mind, did she ever think he would have planned to come back, for her.  She had been so depressed by the thought of being alone that she didn’t even notice people scouting the town. He was right another thing too. The town had a bus load more of walkers in it back then than it did today. She didn't know how to feel about him at that moment.

"So ya didn't even bother? Figures." She turned and walked away, but more confused than angry.

 _"What the hell? Why would he tell me that?"_ Her mind was a tornado of thoughts. Did he honestly think she was going to forgive him? No! Never! That was out of the question for Alice. 

Suddenly, her stomach grumbled, begging for food.

 _“Ugh! I’ll figure this out later! Right now! I need food.”_ She thought as she trudged to her cell block to the kitchen. Soon she reached the cell block that had the food, she had found her dad. Preparing a platter of food of previously canned beans, peas, and a sandwich with sliced turkey ham tucking in the spread out mayo.

“Hey, Dad! What’s up?”She asked.

“Hey Lil’ Ass Kicker, I’m just makin’ yer uncle some food. Do ya mind takin it to em?” he requested.

Alice’s eyebrows frowned,”Yer helpin’ em? Why?”

Daryl put the plate of food and the keys to Merle’s cell back down on the counter. Next, he swats down to her level. He understood why she asked that and even he was still upset at his brother for what he did. However, he still had a conscious and he knows his daughter did too. He did understand as well that it was going to take some time before he can forgive him.

His hands reached for his daughter’s. They were soft and tiny compared to his big strong rough hands.

“Alice, I get why ya probably don’t wanna help 'em and I’m still pretty pissed off about what he did. But, he is family and he did help us escape the Governor's. I’m not sayin’ ya have ta forgive ‘em. I’m sayin’ ta at least get along with 'em. Ya can do that, right?” he pleaded, hoping his daughter would understand.

Alice blinked in bewilderment. She had never heard such consideration come from him before.

“He must be really serious about this.” Alice thought. She bit her lip before she finally accepted the idea of having to work with her uncle. “But, only fer Dad,” she made-up her mind.

“Yeah, I can do that.”Alice piped as she stuffed the keys in her pocket. Then, she picked up the tray of food with both hands and began to walk away.

“Thank ya Lil Ass Kicker,”He smirked. Then, he realized she didn’t know where Merle was.

 “Alice, he’s in the – “ He was about to reveal his location, however, his daughter cut him off.

“Yer welcome! And I know where he is!”She called back.

This confused Daryl greatly, just how did his daughter know where Merle was. At last, Alice was back at Merle’s cell block and to his cell. When she reached it. She placed the bottom of the tray on the underside of her left hand. With her right hand, she plucked the keys out of her pocket. She fumbled through them before, getting the right one. After she unlocked it and put the keys back into the blue pocket of her jeans. Finally, she gripped the platter with both hands once more, set it down in front of him and walked away, locking the door behind her.

  
“So, does this mean no hard feelin's?” Merle asked, calling out to Alice. Alice turned around and replied with a sneer,

“Just because, he forgives ya doesn’t mean I do! We ain't friends! It’s gonna take more than just helpin' me escape from some lunatics place fer me ta forgive ya! Got it?”

“Oh, trust me! I got it. Ya made it loud and clear.” Merle replied. Alice then walked away from him without saying another word to him.


	19. Chapter Eighteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Character may be slightly out of character. By characters I mean Mika. I'm sorry! I barely remember her personality so, if I got it wrong, do correct me! I hate getting character's personality wrong!

Chapter Eighteen

It has been a few weeks since Alice and Merle came to some kind of agreement to work together. Merle was out and about with the group, trying to make amends for the wrongs he caused. Alice was slowly coming around to thinking of Merle as a family. Irina, Carl, and Noemi thought it was odd for a sudden change of heart toward her uncle.

Merle noticed that Jenny was not with her sisters, Irina, and Noemi but, he figured that she, like the others in the world, died. He hadn’t expected for her to be Glenn’s twin, though. Now, every time he thought about Jenny and how he constantly hit on her when she was in Woodberry, it was like a punch in the face.

However, none of that really mattered because Merle had died trying to take the Governor out himself which resulted in taking a shiny bullet and then, turning into a walker after. What’s worse is that Alice’s father had to kill him.

Alice was taking this a little harder than most thought she would. She partially took the blame for her uncle’s downfall. If she hadn’t wished for his death so many times, maybe it wouldn’t have come true.

That’s not all that’s has happened over time. An illness struck the prison that  piloted a lot of deaths. They already lost Patrick, Carl’s friend, to it which, caused a mini apocalypse outbreak within the prison’s gray walls. Alice, Carl, and Irina fought side by side. Now, all the people who have been exposed to it, have to go to Cell Block A for quarantine purposes. Anyone who was exposed to it or gets exposed has to go there immediately.

So far, none of the kids have been exposed to it and had to be in another cell block. It’s only been Rick, Glenn, Hershel, (because he was the doctor and he had to take care of them.) and a few others. Alice would comfort Carl and Irina about it.

Meanwhile, Noemi was feeling conflicted. She hadn’t reacted to Jenny’s death at all but, when Irina and Alice were talking about it the other day, she had dropped her glass of water in realization as if she had never heard of it before. She has heard it prior a thousand times yet, for some reason, she had reacted.

Ever since she has been worried about Glenn. She had been sneaking out to the quarantine cell block when Carol wasn’t guarding it for the past couple of nights. Up to now, she hadn’t caught the bug that’s going around.

Today, Noemi was tremendously eager despite her confusion the past couple of days. She was going to learn how to use and get a gun. Although, she already had an idea how to use one. She’s watched several other people use them carefully. In a way,  she subconsciously knew she was going to need to know how to use a gun.

Even if Lizzie didn’t approve the use of guns to kill walkers! Unlike Mika, Noemi didn’t and still doesn’t care what Lizzie thought on the matter. She didn’t like her before in Woodberry with an addition to currently. This is due to the way she treats her sister and her views on walkers actually still being human was ridiculous! Even she knew that walkers were way past curable and needed to be put down.

At last, she had fumbled in her blue jeans and purple shirt to where Carol held the teachings.  She was outside with the other kids were there as well.

“Today, you’re going to learn how to shoot. In order to survive, you need to protect yourself, right? And from what? From them.”She said, pointing to the groaning walkers clawing at the gate. “Once, this is over and I give you a gun. Only use it whenever you are in danger.”

“Does that mean any type of danger?” A kid from the audience asked. Noemi didn’t see them but, their voice sounded feminine.

“Yes, any type of danger,” Carol replied. “Walker or human, if your life is at risk of not thriving because of one obstacle then, the logical thing to do is to take them out. Any questions before we start?” she asked.

A boy raised their hand, “When you say Walker, are you talking about old people canes or the biters?”

Carol and Noemi would’ve hung her head at the stupidity but, then she remembered that these kids were from Woodberry. Noemi already knew the difference between them when she met Alice so, she didn’t need an explanation.

“I mean the Biters. We call them Walkers.” Carol clarified.

Noemi grabbed her place by Mika, her best friend, who kindly greeted her with a warm smile to which, made Noemi’s nerves tingle. She didn’t know why this was happening either.

 She watched as the other kids went before. She noticed that people were using their right hands. She never understood as to why, though.

“Noemi, you’re up,” Carol called.

Quickly, she bounded up to the motherly figure with a grin planted on her face. When she was handed the gun, she automatically she copied what the other children did before her.

Carol was impressed by Noemi’s rapid adaptation. She hardly saw any flaws when she was holding the gun. She had the height just right and had it on target on point. Which was impressive for a child. At that moment, she noticed something that would be considered a flaw for most.

“You’re left-handed?”Carol asked.

Noemi blinked as she replied,”Uh-huh. Is that a bad thing?”

Carol raised an eyebrow, “ Do you think it’s a bad thing?”

Noemi shrugged, “My teacher’s back in school seemed to think so but, I don’t really think of.  It just is.”

“Well, then,” Carol smiled, “You will just have to do things opposite of what I teach since, I’m right handed.” Noemi and Carol both giggled.

Without a second thought, Carol turned to the entire class “Let’s get this show on the road, shall we?”

“ Now Noemi, you see how you are holding your gun and how I’m holding my gun?”

Noemi glances at her gun and Carol’s gun to study it,  “Yes,” She answered.

“ Okay, since you’re left handed, you’re going to copy what my right-hand does with your left hand,” Carol instructed. “Then,” she said before, pulling the trigger. She turns to Noemi with a grin plastered on her face. “Your turn.” She purred.

Noemi moved her hands to where her left index finger was by the trigger and her right one was laying on its side. Noemi took a breath, trying to remember how Carol had done it. Soon, she shot with pure confidence and the walker, behind the gate, that she was aiming at, fell with a thud. It was a clean shot to the head. The other walkers crowded around their fallen brother to follow the noise. Not caring that one of their own was killed.

After that, everyone cheered and clapped for the youngest Rhee. Which caused Noemi to snap out of her intense trance. She blushed as the other kids and Carol complimented her. Then, she noticed Lizzie standing off in the distance, by the gate, looking not too pleased with her. Mika seemed to notice as well and seemed a tad nervous. It wasn’t unlike Lizzie to make a scene whenever she didn’t like something.

“Mika, it’s your turn!”Carol called. Mika flinched at the sudden voice, drawing her attention to in front of her. She looked over at Noemi, who despite being the younger was the wiser of the two. Noemi looked over toward her friend.

She knew that Mika had been excited for this as she had. However, also terrified of what her sister might think. She likes to keep the peace and level things out. Noemi on the other hand only cared about her family, friends, what was agreeable and what had to be done. She nodded her Mika to learn how to use a gun. To this, Mika beamed at her as she took it. She cheered when Mica made finally made the shot.

After that, Mica and Noemi were sitting at a table. Noemi drew a picture of her family for Irina while, Mika was talking. Alice gave her the idea for it to make it the other day. She was half finished with the sketch.

“You were a natural today! Where did you learn that!”She asked enthusiastically.

Noemi’s blood rushed up to her cheeks from the admired comments.

“I-I don’t know. I just watched the others use them.” She explained.

“You must be a visual learner,” Mika stated.

“Visual learner? Isn’t that where you look at something and do it?”Noemi asked, looking up her picture.

Mika nodded in reply and Noemi wrinkled her nose upon this. That didn’t seem right. She was always to able to not only see but, read and hear instructions. She’ll ask Irina or Alice later. Finally, she was done with the picture and needless to say, her pride sank it’s teeth into her chest.

“What do you think?” Noemi asked Mika, showing her the picture.

Mika looked at in awe, “Noemi! That’s amazing! Is that your family and Alice?” She asked. Noemi copied the nod Mika gave her a few minutes prior.

“That’s awesome!”Mika gawked. “ Are you going to color it?”

Noemi blinked, she hadn’t thought about coloring it. She glances back at it. Perhaps she should color it.

“Do you know where the colors are?” she asked.

Mika thought for a minute before replying, “No, sorry. You should ask Carol. If anything, she’ll know where it is.”

“Alright!”Noemi pipes as she goes off to find Carol. She managed to catch her before, Carol could go into Cell Block A.

“Carol!” Noemi called as she ran up to her.

“Noemi, I know you’re worried about Glenn but, for the last time, you can’t go in there. It’s not safe.” Carol huffed.

“Actually, I was going to ask you if you knew where any colored pencils, markers, or crayons might be?”

“They’re in the storage closet. Do you know where that is?” Carol asked.

Noemi thought for a minute, “Um, no.”She responded.

After that, Carol called Lizzie, who was talking to someone. She was dressed in a long-sleeved charcoal colored shirt and gray pants with short brown boots.

“Can you take Noemi to the storage room? I have to guard the Cellblock.” Carol asked.

“Sure,” Lizzie stated.

With this, they were off to the storage room. On the way, Noemi noticed that Lizzie was awfully quiet.

“Okay, we’re here,” Lizzie announced. In a flash, Noemi went to work, searching for the right colors.

“Now, should I use crayons, markers, or colored pencils?” Noemi thought. “Well, crayons would be decent but, feels funny on paper. Markers are good but, I always mess up the picture with them. Colored pencils it,” Noemi thought but, was quickly interrupted by a soft click behind her.

Noemi whirled around to find that Lizzie was inside the closet now with the door shut. Hairs one the back of Noemi’s neck stood on end as well her nerves.

“L-Lizzie? Why did you shut the door?” Noemi asked.

“We need to talk,” Lizzie stated.

“Oh Okay. What about?” The shorter girl inquired, relaxing herself to a calm state of mind.

“About you and Mika. I don’t want you rubbing off on her!” Lizzie exclaimed.

“Oh no, not this again!” Noemi’s thought sighed.

“Lizzie, with all, do respect, Mika is her own person and is one or two years older than me. She can make her own choices. If we want to be friends then we can!”Noemi argued.

“I don’t want you getting it in her head that it’s okay to kill sick people!”Lizzie hissed.

“They aren’t sick people! They are fucking walkers, Lizzie!”Noemi growled and aggravated by the elder’s way of thinking. Before the apocalypse, Noemi would’ve smacked her hands over her mouth out of fear of being told on. However, that was a different time. A time before Alice was in her life.

“They are sick people! We can cure them!”Lizzie spat.

“No, we can’t!” Noemi debated.

Lizzie huffed as she turned to leave but, then turned back around smiling.

“You know what, you two can be friends,” Lizzie spoke.

The dark haired little girl eyed the blonde for a minute.

“What’s the catch?”Noemi asked.

Suddenly, Lizzie whipped out her knife, pointing it at her with a crazed look in her eyes. Noemi’s eyes widen at this movement.

“ What the hell, Lizzie!?” Noemi exclaimed.

“I just want to see what human blood looks like. I already know what rats blood looks like!”Lizzie purred.

“Rats?” Noemi thought. She overheard Carl and Alice mentioning someone had been feeding the Walkers rats. Then, it clicked.

“It was you wasn’t it!” Noemi accused.

“What was me?” Lizzie asked.

“Carl and Alice said something about someone had been giving Walkers rats for food last night! The only person I know that is crazy enough to do that is you!”Noemi detected.

“I was giving sick people food!” Lizzie excused.

“No, you are encouraging them to eat us!” Noemi shouted. “Just wait until I tell someone about this!”

“Oh no, you are not going to tell anyone about this,” Lizzie said, moving her knife closer to her. Noemi stood on edge once again.

“C-come on Lizzie! You’re starting to scare me a little,” she whimpered.

However, no reply came from the older of the two as inched closer to her.

“She’s going to kill me! What do I do?” Noemi thought with fear nipping at her sides. She felt a brush of her gun from her belt. The same gun Carol gave her. Then, she recalled the conversation that Carol and the kids had before she was taught how to use a gun,

_“Does that mean any type of danger?” A kid from the audience asked. Noemi didn’t see them but, their voice sounded feminine._

_“Yes, any type of danger,” Carol replied. “Walker or human, if your life is at risk of not thriving because, of one obstacle then, the logical thing to do is to take them out.”_

Shakily, she put her hand over her gun as Lizzie scooted nearer. Just before any of the two could start the war the door opened.


	20. Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

 

The door was released from a closed position to expose Maggie. She had been wearing a green tank top with navy jeans and tanned boots. In her belt loops laced was a dark belt with a golden buckle. On one belt loop, a gun holder as clamped onto it, containing a black pistol. Lizzie quickly put her knife away. Hoping she wasn’t caught.

      “What the hell is going on here?” Maggie demanded.

      “What do you mean?” Lizzie asked, playing dumb.

“Don’t play dumb! I heard Noemi say you were scaring her! Now talk!” the brunette hissed. Lizzie’s eyes widened as she gulped the intense air among the trio. 

“Uh-um I-uh” she stuttered.

“She was telling me a scary story,” Noemi replied, covering for the other.

“What?” Maggie questioned. 

“What?” Lizzie synced with Maggie. 

“Y-yeah, she as just telling me a scary story.” Noemi stuttered. 

Maggie crossed her arms across her upper torso. One of her eyebrows raised questioning but, her eyes had the anger of a furious feline. She did not believe Glenn’s little sister’s story at all. However, making eye contact with Noemi told her that she just wanted the moment to end. 

“Uh huh,” Maggie huffed. “But, you!” she addressed Lizzie. “This better not happen again, understood?” 

Lizzie swiftly nodded her head in fear of angering Maggie any further then, she fled from the closet getting away from the situation. 

“Hey,” Maggie asked, getting Noemi’s attention. “Are you sure you’re okay?” 

“Uh huh! She was just telling me a scary story.” Noemi repeated. 

“It must have been some story. Mind telling me what it was about?” Maggie inquired. 

Noemi thought for a minute. She knew it was the right thing to do was tell Maggie what really happened but word will most likely get out to Lizzie and she didn’t want this type of situation happening again. Finally, she came up with an idea.

“It was about two boys after the world ended. One older and one younger. The older had a sis-brother that the other was friends with. That one didn’t want them to be friends because he thought what the other boy’s family did to the Walkers. He talks to the boy and when the boy refuses to stop being friends with his little brother. He takes a knife out. He says, ‘You two can be friends if you let me see what human blood looks like. I already know what animal blood looks like!’ 

“The other boy was confused by what he meant. Then, he understood. The older had been feeding the Walkers. He said that he was going to tell and the older responded by almost killing him.” Noemi told. 

Maggie gawked at the Korean child in shock and fear. She put two and two together, figuring out that the three boys in Noemi’s story were her, Lizzie and Mika. 

“What happened to the youngest boy?” Maggie asked determinedly. She’s be damned if she let any harm come onto one of Glenn’s sisters while she was around. 

“The youngest boy remembered he had his gun but, before he could defend himself, someone stopped it,” Noemi replied. 

Maggie inwardly let out a sigh of relief. Thanking whatever was listening that nothing happened before things got out of hand. Her relief quickly changed to amazement. Noemi, who just learned how to use a gun that day, thought of using it out of self-defense. 

“If you ask me, the older one needs to straighten himself out.” The brunette said, half smirking. 

Next, she ruffled Noemi’s hair that wasn’t pulled up into pigtails. That’s when Noemi recognized that Maggie was in the closet with her.

“What did you need to get?” She asked, changing the subject. 

“Oh, I didn’t need anything. I just heard what was going on in here.” Maggie answered.

“You heard that?!” Noemi squeaked. 

Maggie replied with a nod. 

“H-How much did you hear?” the seven-year-old inquired. 

“Enough.” Maggie specified. 

Noemi hung her head in defeat. She’s not sure as to why she didn’t want Maggie to know what happen but, didn’t question it. Maggie took note of this and changed the topic. 

“So, what were you doing in here?” she asked.

Noemi lifted her head, “I needed color pencils for my picture.” She explains. 

“Oh, they’re right here,” Maggie smiles as she reaches over to the top shelf. She grabs a lime green crayon box filled with mostly colored pencils with a few crayons here and there. Next, she hands it to Noemi. 

“Thank you!” Noemi chirped then, dashed away quickly. While Noemi seemed better, she still had an inkling of fear from the previous event. Who could blame her? She almost shook hands with death, not even a few minutes ago. She couldn’t think straight at the moment.

Finally, she reached back to the table she and Mika were at. Mika had been waiting for her return patiently. Mika’s presence made Noemi recognize once again, she was related to Lizzy. She made her way to Mika and asked, 

“Hey Mika, can we talk somewhere in private?” 

“Sure!” Mika peeped.

Next, Mika and Noemi scurried away from the gray table. Before they left, Noemi grabbed the picture of the table.  They enter the cell that she and Irina were assigned to. She put the picture with the colored pencil filled box on the nightstand and sat down on the white-sheeted bed.

“So, what’s up?” Mika asked.

Noemi’s face flinched at the question. How would she go about this? She knew she couldn’t just say that her sister just tried to kill her a few minutes ago! However, she can’t just let this slip away like nothing ever happened. 

“It’s Lizzie, isn’t it?” Mika asked, bursting Noemi’s thought bubble. 

The dark haired girl jumped due to the sudden voice. Then, she grasped what she just said. Her eyebrows frowned in bewilderment. 

“H-how did you know?” she asked the blonde.

“I saw the way she’s been looking at you lately,” she answered. “and she’s also told me I should find a new friend.” 

Noemi’s teeth clenched as she heard this. Trying to restrain the growl threatening to unleash words of fury. 

“What did she do?” Mika inquired. 

Noemi unclenched her jaws to sigh before replying point blank, “Carol had Lizzie take me to the storage closet. Once we got there, she talked about how we shouldn’t be friends because I’m rubbing off on you and she doesn’t and she doesn’t want you to kill walkers. Oh, I’m sorry, sick people as she calls them. I told her that she was insane and we were going to be friends if we wanted to. Then, she pulled a knife on me.”  Then, she waited for her friend's reply. She decided to leave out the information about her almost drawing a gun on Lizzie. To be fair, she never really did it and Maggie did come in before anything could happen. 

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry she did that! You’re not hurt or anything right?” Mika asked frantically. 

“W-wait you believe me?” Noemi inquired. 

The blonde answered with a sigh, “Yeah. It sounds like something she would do.”

After that, there was a short pause before she said, “You still didn’t answer my question.”

“Huh? Oh yeah! I’m fine. Just little scared but, I’m fine. Maggie came in before anything could happen.” Noemi explain.

“Ah, okay!” Mika responded. There was another pause until Noemi felt something pressed to her cheek. She looked out of the corner of her eye to see Mika’s head was close to her cheek and her lips were nowhere to be seen.

Noemi’s face flushed at the apprehension that Mika was kissing her cheek. Before she could think, Mika lifted off her cheek. Mika looking innocent as she can be, raised an eyebrow in puzzlement as she noticed her friend’s face. 

“What? You said you were scared. That’s what my mother does when I’m scared.” Mika explained. 

Noemi still wasn’t thinking about anything, in fact, she sat there with her cheeks rosy and her mouth a gap. Her heart seemed to beat an irregular heartbeat. She knew what a kiss meant but, she never really thought it about it much until now.

She had heard Mika but, it didn’t seem to register in her head. She just nodded to give her friend some kind of reaction. She hadn’t noticed that Mika had left the room. Noemi raised her hand up to where Mika had pecked her cheek. She felt a wide smile stretch across her face.

Later that day, the sun fell and the moon had risen. Everyone had bundled into their beds, sleeping soundly. Alice and Irina were on watch with Maggie and Daryl. They hadn’t noticed a little girl dressed in a gray hoodie, blue pants, and tan shoes creeping around to Cell Block A below them.

Noemi had a mission, to see if her brother was okay. So far, every time she’s checked, Glenn was okay. Every night that she’s visited outside of the metal doors when Carol wasn’t there, she would hope that Glenn would become well. She would continue to do so until he was so! No matter how drowsy she felt!

Speaking of which, she was external of the doors, standing on a chair while looking out of the small rounded window, feeling a bit weary. She had been exhausted since after dinner. However, she just thought she was very tired. Then suddenly, she began to dryly cough brutally. She squeezed her eyes shut.  During this cough, her face began rising in temperature. All of the sudden, the sensation of liquid spilled onto her hand. It’s felt warm and concentrated. Her eyes widen when she opened them to see red liquid on her hand.

Now, she knew exactly what's going on. She had caught the illness swarming the prison. Afterward, she heard a voice,

“Noemi? What have I told you about being here!”

She recognized the voice to be Carol’s. Accepting her fate, her eyes shut once more, carefully slipped off the chair, and turned around. Her gaze returns to Carol. She sees that the older woman had an indigo blouse, a gray jacket, blue jeans, and dusted boots for attires. Around her neck was a handkerchief that would cover her mouth when needed.

She raised her now bloodied hand so Carol could see it. Carol gawked at the sight before. Noemi’s face was completely flushed red, her eyes were glassy, her mouth and hand had blood splattered. Her motherly instinct was telling her to caudle the child but, that would result in her getting sick as well. Then, she thought about Glenn and he would feel once he heard about this.

“I’m sorry.” Noemi spoke, breaking through Carol’s thoughts. 

Inside, Carol’s heart string cringed. “It’s okay, I would’ve done the same for Sophia.” She whimpered. She smiled at her and quietly told her it was time to go into quarantine with the others.

“Hershel needs to look at you.” 

Noemi was becoming weaker by the minute but mumbled, “Does Glenn worry a lot?”

“I don’t know. Why?” Carol asked. 

“I don’t want him to worry,” Noemi said.

“Well, you can talk to Hershel about that. Let’s go.”

After that, she pulled the bandana up to her mouth and let it rest there. She went over to doors, sprayed the chair that Noemi was standing on prior with disinfectant, and opened them.

Noemi took one look at Carol and gave a weak smile, 

“Thank you for teaching me how to use a gun.” She acknowledged.

“You’re welcome.” The gray-haired woman replied before, Noemi walked into the quarantine zone.

Hershel must have heard Carol open the door because, he was right there, waiting for her. His face had saddened at the idea that Glenn’s sister was sick. Right away he tended to her, cleaned her up, and gave her a room.

Her hoodie was now, on the nightstand beside her and her tanned tennis shoes were on the floor in front of the bed. Once she settled down in bed, he would tell Glenn about this. 

“Hershel?” He heard Noemi call out before, he left the doorway. 

“Yes?” He responded, turning back to the little girl. 

“Can you not tell him about me being sick?” She asked. 

Hershel’s eyebrows frowned in confusion, “Why not?” He asked. 

“I don’t want him to worry about me.” Noemi shook her head. “He needs to focus on getting better.” She clarified.

Hershel was flabbergasted at the little girl’s selflessness. She definitely was Glenn’s sister and that action proved so. While he didn’t agree with keeping her illness a secret from her older brother, he did respect Noemi’s wish.


	21. Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

Alice and Irina were on watch with her father and Maggie. They saw Noemi go into Cell Block A which was the quarantine cell block. Irina was babbling to Alice about her younger sibling. Knowing fully well that if she goes in there that means she’s sick. They made a deal saying that if morning came and she wasn’t out, they would know if she was actually sick. Dawn had come about to greet the night sky, changing the scenery from a midnight blue speckled with white to layers of purple and red, with hues of orange and yellow.

 She didn’t come out of the sick stricken cell block.

Once, they were done with the watch they told Daryl and Maggie. Maggie was struck with melancholy over the littlest Rhee. Her husband was already in Cell Block A but, now his little sister was in there! It’s just getting worse and worse for Maggie.

Noemi’s condition lasted for about three weeks due to Daryl, Tyreese, Michonne and Bob   going on a trip to a college for antibiotics. In Cell Block, A everyone  had been given the medicine including Glenn and Noemi.

Rick and Carl were tending to the garden while; Irina was with Daryl and his group on a run. Hershel, Michonne, and Alice handled disposing of dead bodies in the woods. Little did they know, a familiar predator was lurking there. Stalking the prison or an opportunity with his now one eye due to Michonne taking the other one awhile back. The eye was a reminder of another thing that Michonne had taken from him, his daughter. The Governor was dressed in a thin blue polo, tan khakis, and black boots.

When Michonne was close enough, he knocked her out behind a tree. Alice and Hershel were alerted right off the bat. Alice tried to defend Michonne and Hershel after, she drew her trusty machete. However, she was powerless when he held Hershel at gunpoint with a 9mm Beretta 92SB Nickel pistol. Hershel dropped his gun and Alice sheathed her sword in her makeshift pouch.

After the Governor took their weapons and tied their hands behind their backs, he took all three of them to a camp settled  next to nearby a river. He put them in a white RV nuzzled in the soft luscious spring grass.

                          Eventually, Michonne woke up to her Alice, and Hershel sitting at a table, tied up in what looks like a trailer. Alice heard the Governor mumble to some people outside of the camper but, she couldn’t make it out. Then, the Governor came into the RV and sat down across from them.

“Just tell us what this is. Please.” Hershel begged.

“It isn't personal.” The Governor replied.

 _“Nothin’ personal? What a crock of shit!”_ Alice scoffed in thought all knowingly,

Hershel inquired, confused about how it wasn’t personal.“Then what is it?”

The leader of Woodberry ignored the older man and focused on Michonne,

“ Michonne, I want you to know... Penny, my daughter, she was dead. I know that."

 _“You lyin' piece of shit. Just wait 'til we get outta here!”_ Alice thought bitterly.

“Now, I don't want to hurt you. Hell, I don't want to hurt anyone. I need the prison, that's it. There are people I need to keep alive. You three are gonna help me take it. No one needs to die.” The Governor explained

 _“That motherfucker! He’s pullin’ the same stunt he did with my hotel!”_ the brunet’s thoughts roared.

“Ya can go fuck yerself!”Alice let out an animalistic snarl.

“Alice!” Hershel warned.

“What?” Alice asked in half snarl, half confusion.

“Let the adults handle this!” he hissed.

Alice would’ve said something if this hadn’t been someone who had earn her respect numerous of times. Her father had taught her that if someone had earned your respect, you give yours in return, adult or not. Which, he had done before so, she remained quiet.

Alice grinned when Michonne agreed with her when she growled: “ I'm gonna kill you.”

“No, you won't.” he replied.

 _“Oh yeah? Why wouldn’t she? If given the chance, I would!”_ Alice thoughts echoed louder in her head but, she only glared in response.

 “I'm gonna take my...” Michonne barked but, was interrupted by Hershel.

“Stop it. You want the prison?” Hershel clarified.

Alice gawked at him and wondered, _“He cannot be serious about giving the prison up? Rick is not just gonna hand over the Prison like a piece of pie!”_

“Yeah. And I will take it as peacefully as I can.” The Governor responded.

 _“Tch, yeah right! The minute something goes wrong with whatever plan ya have in that thick asshole head of yers, yer gonna use one of us as target practice!”_ Alice hypothesized in her mind.

“Governor...” Hershel trailed off.

“Don't call me that.” The Governor growled.

“Your people, our people, we can find a way to live together. These people you need to keep alive, do you love them?” the elder discussed. 

“You're a good man, Hershel. A better man than Rick.”The former ruler of Woodberry said.

 _“Oh and like yer any betta’, prick!”_ Alice held excessively.

 “Everything you said, the way you've said it, you've changed. So has Rick.” Hershel said, taking note of the Governor's behavior.

“The two of us will never be able to live together. Michonne and I, we'll never be able to live together.” He explained.

“We'll find a way.”The older Greene argued.

“I found a way! I'm trying hard. There's all kinds of ways I could do this. This way, you get to live and I get to be...” The Governor lingered off.

 _“Get ta be a Dictator? Well, ya certainly got the dick part right!”_ Alice’s opinions grumbled.

“You say you want to take this prison as peacefully as possible. That means you'd be willing to hurt people to get it.” Hershel spoke.

 _“Good! He finally gets it!”_ Alice feelings cheered.

“ My daughters would be there. That's who you'd be hurting. If you understand what it's like to have a daughter, then how could you threaten to kill someone else's?” he asked.

 _“Because, he’s an asshole.”_ Alice’s thoughts bared their teeth. Much more and she would be tasting her own blood, from biting her lip.

The Governor looked at Hershel dead in the eyes, he replied in a cold-hearted tone.“Because they aren't mine.”

 _“See! He’s an asshole!”_ Alice’s blood boiled as she thought this.

After that, the ex-leader of Woodberry left the RV, leaving the trio to hear more mumbles outside.

***

Flashback

***

Back at the prison, Glenn, Noemi, and the others are trying to recover from the illness. Since a cure was found, people can see their loved ones in Cell Block A without worrying about getting sick however, they were still incredibly weak from the bug so, they were to stay in the block until everything was settled again. While Glenn did need it from time to time, he was healthier than most of the people in the cell block.

Hershel let Glenn in on Noemi’s condition when he was trying to help the other recovering patients with Hershel.

“ Noemi’s sick! When? H-how? She wasn’t near the water supply!” Glenn exclaimed.

Hershel sighed, “ I don’t know. I assume she was worried about you because I heard from Carol that she had sent her away from cell block on several occasions. When I talked to her about it, she asked me not to tell you.”

          “What? Why?” Glenn asked, confused as to why sister wouldn’t want him to know. She usually tells him, Maggie, Irina, or Alice everything.

          “She said that she wanted you to focus on getting better. She didn’t want you to worry about her.”Hershel told him.   

          Glenn felt distress claw at his brain, trying to pinpoint the situation he was just told about. His little sister was sick with the same horrible virus he endured. He knew that if he hadn’t gotten ill then, Noemi wouldn’t have gotten sick either. He had to go see her!

          As if Hershel read his thoughts, he spoke up, “She’s in her cell over there.” He pointed his head in the direction of the other side of the room toward the fourth cell. In an instant, Glenn was over to it.

          He saw her on her side, facing the wall, in her bed. She looked fast asleep with a snowy sheet draped over her small frame. Letting out a sigh of relief, he sat down at the bottom of the bed, trying to be quite as possible. Sadly, he wasn’t quite enough because Noemi began to stir over onto her other side.

          She let out a cute high-pitched groan as she stretched her arms over her head. She took note that the back of her neck and face were drenched as if she took a bath. She moved her limbs over to her eyes to rub out the stubborn sleep threatening to stay within her. After that, she detected Glenn sitting on her bed. He was dressed in a black shirt with long sleeves and blue jeans.

          “Glenn?” Noemi chirped weakly.

          “Hey, how are you feeling?” Glenn asked, putting on a smile.

          “I’m okay, what about you?” she rasped.

          “ I’m fine,” Glenn answered.

          “Good.” Noemi sat up and smiled then, the grin quickly faded when she realized that if her brother was in her cell, it means he knows she was sick and how she got it. She bit her lip at the thought of Glenn being mad at her.

          “Did Hershel tell you?” she asked.

          “Yeah but, it’s okay,”  Glenn said.

          “What? You’re not mad?” Noemi’s eyes widen as she asked.

“Nah. I would do the same,” Glenn grinned.

After the awkward silence that followed after this, The elder Rhee reached over and around his little sister’s head in a lightly locked headlock. Using the other clenched hand to rubbed the top of her head.

          Noemi’s smile returned following after with a laughter leaving her lips.

          “Gah! Glenn!” she shrieked as she tried to pry from the headlock from underneath but, at a last he wouldn’t budge. However, his laughter at her attempts to get away from him did. Glenn eventually stopped when Noemi broke free. Then Noemi chose this opportunity to tackle her brother and seek her revenge by tickling him to death.

          Glenn cackled so hard his sides were hurting. Sadly, the revenge tickle came to an end when Glenn started coughing. Noemi flinched herself off of him as she tried to calm her giggles left in her chest. Her black pigtails bounced frontward and behind her doing so.

          “Sorry! You okay?” Noemi asked.

          “Yeah, I’m fine.”Glenn wheezed out between coughs.

          After that, Noemi began to walk away before her older brother asked,

          “Where are you going?”

          “I’m going to the bathroom,” Noemi answered.

          That’s all that Glenn needed. Then, he noticed Maggie in the doorway a few moments after.

         ***

          Irina had been looking for Alice for the past few hours and there was no sign of her anywhere. She checked their block, outside and she didn’t dare go into Prison Block A yet. She knew her brother and sister were better but, she wanted to wait until they were completely well before doing so. 

          Irina came up with the idea to find Daryl. If anything, he would know where his daughter is, right? When she found him in the upper part of cell block C however, he seemed to be in an argument with Rick. He was dressed in a sleeveless button up with a leather vest over it and umber jeans. His crossbow strapped to his back. She went into the cell to the left of the one they were in. She poked her head around the corner far enough so, she wouldn’t be seen but, could hear.

          “Man, you couldn't have waited till we got back?” She heard Daryl’s voice  utter.

 _“Waited for what?”_ Irina wondered.

“ ‘Til Tyreese got back? I could've handled that. Hey. Hey!” Daryl called back as Rick walked away. Irina shrank back when she heard footsteps headed her away but, moved back into her previous place. Then Rick faced him again.

“She killed two of our own. She couldn't be here. She's gonna be all right. She has a car, supplies, weapons. She's a survivor.” He stated.

Irina’s pupils shrank as she heard this. Thoughts were whirling in her mind. Who was she? Who did she kill? Why? Also, why do they care what happens to a person who killed others in the group? She snapped back to when Daryl started talking. Suddenly, she was intrigued by the conversation.

“Stop saying that like ya don't believe it,” Daryl growled.

  “She did it. She said it was for us. That's how it was in her head. She wasn't sorry.”Rick replied.

 _“Then, why is Mr. Dix-Daryl,”_ She corrected her thought. Up until a few weeks ago, she had spent the entire time calling Alice’s father Mr. Dixon. Then, he told her to stop politely as he could be considering it was Glenn’s little sister he was talking to. Ever since she been correcting herself and it has been difficult.

 _“so worried about whoever killed people in the group and doesn’t feel sorry for it?”_ Irina asked herself with thought.

 “Man, that's her, but that ain't her. What are we supposed ta do about those twa girls?” Daryl asked.

 _“Two girls?”_ Irina wondered. _“Why would he care for two girls the person was taking care of. The only person who was taking care of two girls in the group was…Carol!”_ Irina concluded. “Now it makes sense!” She cheered in thought. Only after she said it did she realize she stage whispered it aloud. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand as she hid under the bed behind her. There was no noise for awhile which, tensed the middle Rhee. She did not dare let out a sigh of relief when Rick answered,

“ I told her we'd look after them. I haven't told Tyreese yet. I don't know how he's gonna take it.”

 _“Wait, what does Tyreese have to do with this?”_ Irina mentally asked.

“Let's go find out.” Daryl snarled, wanting to know how Tyreese will react. Rick stormed off ahead thinking Daryl followed behind. Once he noticed that Daryl was not with him but, by the cell on the left of the one they were just in, looking down to the floor.

“Daryl?” Rick asked.

“Uh actually, ya go on ahead. I’ll catch up with ya later. A stray walker got in here.” Daryl whispered, acting as if he got his knife out.

Rick raised an eyebrow as he wondered so many things like if a walker got in, why wasn’t it making noise? Then again, Daryl is super quite so, it really is a no-brainer. Despite his suspicions, Rick left Daryl to tend to the ‘stray walker’.

“ ’Ight come on out. I know yer in there.”Daryl hollered once, Rick left the building.

Irina flinched as she slowly crawled out from under the bed.

       _“Dear mother of Teresa, I’m going to die!”_ Irina’s head screamed. It’s not that she feared her best friend’s father however, he was quite intimidating.

“How much did ya hear?” Daryl asked.

          “I-I’m not sure what you’re referring to.” the small Korean girl stuttered.

          “Yes, ya do. Don’t act like Rick and I didn’t hear ya earlier.” Daryl corrected.

Irina cringed at this, she was hoping that they didn’t hear her. “You heard that?” she chuckled nervously.

Daryl nodded to show he was answering her question.

“How much did ya hear?” He asked.

Irina thought for a moment, searching for the right answer. Finally, she got it, “Only half.” She replied.

Daryl raised an eyebrow, not believing her. Irina bit the inside of her lip as they stood there. She clicked her fingernails together as the silence strangled her. At last, she cracked,

“Okay, all of it.” she sighed.

Daryl suppressed a chuckled as he smirked. He didn’t even do anything and she cracked.She really was Glenn’s sister.

“Why?” Daryl asked.

This took Irina back a bit, “Why what?” she inquired.

          “Why did ya listen?”Daryl requested.

“I-I was curious of why you two were fighting.”Irina stumbled.

Daryl shrugged as he thought it was a fair point but, that didn’t change why she was there.

“Why were ya here?” he asked the little eleven-year-old girl.

“Why was I here?” she wondered then, she remembered what she came there for.

“Oh, I was looking for Alice. I couldn’t find her in her cell or outside,” she explained.

“And ya came ta me so, ya can find out, Right?” the crossbow wielder asked.

Irina nodded in return.

“Alice is outside helping Hershel and Michonne dump the dead in the woods,” Daryl replied.

“Oh, thank you, Mr. Dixon!”Irina chirped, not realizing she had called Daryl, Mr. Dixon.

“Didn’t Glenn tell ya not ta call me?” Daryl said.

Out of natural habit she developed from Alice, she retorted with a sarcastic remark,

“Yes because he was able to tell me while he’s been sick the last couple of weeks!”

Immediately she regretted and was about to apologize profusely but, Daryl chuckled,

“Listen, I know yer my daughter's friend and all but, I don’t need yer sass. I get it enough of it from her!”.

Irina giggled at this. Even she couldn’t lie that her best friend was a bit snarky.

“Now, Go on. Find Alice. I’m sure she’s done by now.” Daryl grinned.

As Irina and Daryl split off to different directions outside, Daryl called back to Irina, “Irina!”

“Yeah?” She turned around, answering him.

“Not a peep to anyone about that, got it?” Daryl hollered.

“Got it Mr-erm Daryl!”Irina yipped.

“Hey!”Daryl called once more.

“Yes?” Irina whirled around once more to him, her ponytail swished from side to side.

“If it’s too hard for ya ta say. Call me whateva’ ya want, got it?” Daryl asked.

Irina smiled, “Got it!” then, ran off to find Alice once again.

Daryl muttered to himself as he went to find Rick, “Good.”

 


	22. Chapter Twernty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

Hershel, Michonne and Alice were knelt down on the soft grass with a dark olive tank and numerous people surrounding them. With the people was a jeep of some sort. The sun was beating down on the three from the cotton balls stretched over the bright blue sky. One of those particular people were The Governor, holding Michonne’s sword. The girl with ponytails had Alice’s machete.

“So, what? Are ya just gonna sit here and wait fer Rick all day or gonna get his attention?” Alice hissed.

The Governor glared at the small child then, pointed the katana at her.

“Be quiet! I have a plan.” He smiled. Next, he gives a hand signal and next thing the trio knew, a missile was shooting at the prison.  Soon they heard a rumble come from the prison area. Alice cringed as she realized Irina, Noemi, Carl, her father and everyone else were in there.

Her face scrunched up in anger, “I said ta get their attention! Not blow ‘em up asshole!”Alice growled, fidgeting in her binds.

“Oh, and what do you suppose I do then? Cut out one of your tounges? That surely would get their attention and it certainly make you a whole lot prettier.” The former leader slurred.

Then Alice heard an all too familiar voice shout,

“Let ‘er go asshole!”

She grinned as her father came in view, pointing his crossbow out in the general direction of the Governor. Near Daryl, who was dressed in his normal leather vest, black pants, and black undershirt, was Carl, he was clothed in a dirty blue plaid shirt with blue jeans and Irina was wearing a dark green and stormy blue jacket-shirt combo with gray shorts to compliment her charcoal boots . Alice smirked even wider when she saw that Irina was holding a gun. A sniper rifle to be exact, She couldn’t help but think, to wherever Jenny may be after death,

_“Ya proud Jenny?”_

***

Meanwhile, Noemi was on the bus waiting for everyone else to get on board. She tried to save a spot of Irina and Alice however, too many seats were taken by all the other sick people on the bus,she only saved seats for Glenn and Maggie. She was worried about the others on the vehicle because she could tell that some were too far gone to be saved by the cure. She was thankful to be one of the ones that gotten the cure and was able to function after.

She watched outside as she couldn’t hear anything over the glass windows and people screaming. Noemi saw Alice, Hershel, and Michonne tied up by a tank with the Governor  and she assumed, were his men. She was itching to rescue them but, what could she do right now? She was too weak to do anything other than walk or crawl.

***

Alice hadn’t noticed the Governor learned into her ear until he grumbled,

“Like father, like daughter.”

“Yeah, if he were anything like me, he’d kill ya with that crossbow over there.”Alice retorted with a smirk.

Suddenly a familiar coldness reached her neck. “What did I tell you about being quite?”

“You leave her alone! She was just pointing out a fact.”Michonne blatantly stated. The Governor paused before, saying,

“Sounded more like an opinion to me.” Then, moved the sword away from Alice’s neck. Next, he went to the tank to stand on it.

“Rick! Come down here. We need to talk.” The Governor said, pacing by the hostages.

“ It's not up to me. There's a council now. They run this place.” Rick hollered back.

 “Is Hershel on the council?” The Governor pointed his sword him. “What about Michonne? She on the council, too? Or how about,” the governor stopped as his attention was brought to the little girl in the trio.

Alice didn’t pay much attention to it. She was more focused on her machete. She needed it back but, how was she going to get it back. She noticed the woman had been studying it. When she drew her attention away from the weapon to her, Alice relocated her head in the direction of the prison.

“The archer’s daughter? on the council as well?” He asked in a slight mocking manner.

 _“Yeah, she is and if ya say that again, I’m gonna beat yer sorry ass inta the ground!”_ Alice thought but, instead, she muttered through her teeth in annoyance.

“He ain’t an archer! He carries a Crossbow! An archer carries a regular bow! Are ya that blind?”

Before, Daryl could say what Alice was thinking, Rick interjected with,

“I don't make decisions anymore.”

“You're making the decisions today, Rick. Come down here. Let's... Let's have that talk.” The Governor trails off faintly.

 _“Why? So, ya can trick him? Fat chance!”_ Alice wondered bitterly.

“ We can do this. All right?” Rick squeaks a reply.

There was a period of silence but, after a moment, Rick spoke up again,

“Let 'em go right now. I'll stay down here. Talk as long as you want. But you let 'em go. You got a tank. You don't need hostages”.

  “I do. This is just to show you I'm serious. Not to blast a hole in our new home. You and your people, you have till sundown to get out of here or they die.”The Governor remarked.

 _“Good luck on both of those deals because ya ain't gonna accomplish any of those today.”_ Alice believed, but, only bared her teeth in response. Oh, how badly did she want to say something but, she knew better.

“Doesn't have to go down this way,” Rick was trying to reason with him, first.

“ I got more people, more firepower. We need this prison. There it is.”The Governor reasoned.

“Maybe so but, we have more strategy than you do,” Alice muttered under breath.

“Alice,”Michonne muttered beside her.

Alice looked over to her to see that Michonne was making a face that told her to be quiet.

The former leader of Woodberry turned his head slightly to the side and asked, “What was that?”

“Nothin’, ya hadn’t heard before,” Alice replied.

Soon, the Governor turned back to prison, continuing the conversation with Rick.

“ It's not about the past. It's about right now. There are children here. Some of them are sick. They won't survive.” Rick rationalized.

“I have a tank. And I'm letting you walk away from here. What else is there to talk about? “The Governor asked.

 _“Um, how ya think Rick is going ta hand over the prison with ease.”_ Alice pondered angerly.

“I could shoot you all. You'd all shoot back. I know that. But we'll win and you'll be dead. All of you.”The man behind Alice said.

 _“Wow, he is so full of ‘emself right now. Ain’t  he?”_ Alice mentally inquired herself.

“Doesn't have to be like that,” Rick argued

 “Like I said, it's your choice.” The Governor said as Alice heard walkers and gunshots from far off.

“Noise will only draw more of them over. The longer you wait, the harder it will be for you to get out of here.” He stated calmly.

Alice looked over at Hershel and Michonne as this was said.

***

“ We got to do something,” Carl whispered to anyone who could hear.

“Agreed but, how?” Irina asked.

“ Yer dad's got it. They're talking.” Daryl said reassuringly.

“We could kill the Governor right now,”Carl whispered to Irina.

“ From yards?” Irina asked, uncertainly.

“I'm a good shot.” Carl shrugged  “I could end this right now.”

“ Yeah, or ya could start something else.” Daryl reasoned to Carl.

“Look, I want ta get Alice back as much y'all do but, ya gotta trust him!”

Irina thought, as she put her eye into the target view and sighing to hersel _f. “Don’t worry Alice. Well, get you out of there.”._

***

“ You got maybe about an hour of sunlight left. I suggest you start packing. The longer you wait, the harder it's gonna be for you to get out of here.” The Governor hollered to the survivors in the prison.

 _“Dude, what part of they ain’t gonna listen ta ya, don’t ya fuckin understand!”_ Alice thought, her anger boiling more and more.

“We can all-- we can all live together. There's enough room for all of us. More than enough.” Rick said.

 _“No there isn’t, Rick! You may accept him with no problems but, no one else will! Hell, not even Glenn would!”_ Alice growled in her head.

“But I don't think my family would sleep well knowing that you were under the same roof.” The Governor disagreed.

Alice didn’t even need to question why this was so due to the fact that she knows how he is. He probably told his pretend family that they were the evil one terrorizing them.

 “We'd live in different cell blocks. We'd never have to see each other till we're all ready. It could work. You know it could.” Rick claimed.

 “It could've. But it can't. Not after Woodbury. Not after Andrea” The Governor retorted. He hopped down from the tank by the hostages at this point.

Alice saw Michonne flinch at Andrea’s name. Which, meant to Alice that she and this Andrea were close friends. She knew what that was like. To lose someone because, of someone else’s doing.

 _“Why can’t he just die already?”_ Alice thought, gesturing to the Governor.

“ Look, I'm not saying it's gonna be easy. Fact is, it's gonna be a hell of a lot harder than standing here shooting at each other. But I don't think we have a choice.”Rick stated.

 _“Yes ,he sees the problem here!”_ Alice’s mind cheered.

“We don't. You do.” The Governor replied.

“We're not leaving. You try and force us, we'll fight back. Like you said, the gunshots will just bring more of them out. They'll take down the fences. Without the fences, this place is worthless. Now, we can all live in the prison or none of us can.”Rick debated.

 “We'll fix the damn fences.” The Governor yelled, angrily.

“ You. You in the ponytails.” Rick gestured to the left of the Governor. Alice whirled her head around face the same girl who had her machete. “ Is this what you want? Is this what any of you want?” He asked

“What we want is what you got. Period. Time for you to leave, asshole.”She shouted in returned.

“Look, I fought him before. And after, we took in his old friends. They've become leaders in what we have here. Now you put down your weapons, walk through those gates... you're one of us. We let go of all of it, and nobody dies. Everyone who's alive right now. Everyone who's made it this far. We've all done the worst kinds of things just to stay alive. But we can still come back. We're not too far gone. We get to come back. I know... we all can change.” Rick presented his speech.

The silence has moved the air as fast a butterfly flew in the breeze. Not even the birds were chirping at this point as if they knew what was happening.

Irina and Alice thought at the same time, _“Is he actually going to consider it?”_

Then the silence was broken again when the Governor said harshly, “Liar.”

Alice’s eyes widened when he swung the katana into Hershel’s neck. His blood spilled onto Michonne and her.

“Hershel! Ya bastard!” Alice roared along with the other’s. She could’ve sworn she heard Beth and Maggie screaming for their Dad. After this, there was gunfire popping all around her. Alice watched as he tried to crawl away but, she knew even if he got away, he was a dead man. She let out a soft sob when the Governor finished the job. She noticed Michone was rolling over to the side to the side.

“No doubt dealin’ with the Governor.”Alice thought bitterly Her ears were ringing from all the noise at this point. She’s surprised she hasn’t gone deaf. Then, she remembered that her hands were still tied at the moment. She rolled over to the other side of the tank under the jeep and tried to lay low.

 “You! Pick up your weapon! Fight, now!”Alice heard.

“ This isn't right. We're not supposed to be doing this.” A girl shouted.

“Huh?” Alice wondered. She army crawled over the conversation.

“We are.” The person argued

“ He chopped a guy's head off with a sword.” The girl exclaimed. Now she knew who was talking or, at least, one of them. Something caught Alice off guard. She sounded as if she couldn’t believe the Governor did what he did. Almost as if,

 _“He did trick them! They were innocent in all this! That son of a bitch!”_ Alice thought.

          That’s when Alice noticed her Machete dangling from one of the hands. She thought about reaching for it but, with all this gunfire. She’s be shot at. Plus, they wouldn’t just give it to her.

“ We have to stay here. It's too late. You understand me? Stay behind me and if we get separated, you just go run somewhere safe and hide. You hear me? You go someplace safe and hide and I will find you when this is all over. I will find you.”

“Fine but, I’m not using this!” The girl with her hair tied back said as she walked away.

Then, her Machete was dropped from her hands and onto the ground. She noticed the other person was busy shooting. Quickly, she crawled over to it. She quickly grabbed her trusty machete with her fingertips. She reared herself on her back and placed her weapon between two bars on the bottom of the pale vehicle. The sharp end of the blade was facing downward.

Quickly, she rolled herself over on her stomach and pushed her blue jean legs up to the blade. She shifted her body side to side, cutting the rope. Finally, she was free! She wiped her machete out of the bars, flinching at the hot metal from the tank.

She rolled out from the military vehicle and heard the Governor say something, however, she paid no attention to it. She gripped her machete tightly as she got up.

 _“Alright, now I just get ta Irin-AH!”_ Alice thought but, was rudely interrupted by a bullet biting into her arm past her long sleeved rusted shirt. Her blade fell out of her hand before, she heard growling behind her.Her bright jade blue highlighted eyes from the pain and colliding into the ground.

“Shit, a walker!”Alice panicked, trying to reach for her weapon.

She looked over to the prison when she heard gunfire above and a thud following after. She vaguely saw someone raise a thumbs up. From what she could see, they were too short and small to be any adult. She would’ve guessed Carl but, he has a hat on his head and this person had nothing upon their head. She smirked as she realized it had to of been her best friend.

Next, she got up, grabbing her arm, feeling her blood soak her finger and  sleeves as she ran to the prison that knows barely any fences holding it up.

***

Noemi’s eyes gawked as she saw Hershel killed by the Governor. She just talked to him yesterday and last night! Her chocolate eyeballs launched water as the possibility Hershel was dead. Through those blurred eyes, she viewed a tank supervised to the prison.

 Now, she knew why the Governor was here and why she was put on the bus. The Governor wanted their prison like when he wanted Alice’s hotel! Then things got out of hand. Now, they had to evacuate the place as it’s falling apart.

 _“I have to find them! Glenn at least!”_ Noemi thought as she looked over to noticed Beth and Maggie getting the elderly on the bus and they were talking.

However, she can’t hear what they are saying. She waited until the two sisters separated from each other. Then, she slowly and weakly made her way to the back of the bus. She lifted the emergency handle as hard as she could. She heard people tell her to stop and sit back down but, she didn’t listen She pushed it opened and hopped out, closing the door behind her.As soon as she got off, she whipped her gun out, unlocked the chamber from the pistol and let it onto her hand to check if she had ammo.

“Good,” Noemi muttered to herself as she locked the pistol back together.

“ _Time to put this to the test.”_ Noemi thought. Then off she ran to find Glenn.

Finally, Maggie and Glenn get to the bus.

“Glenn! What the hell's going on?”  Maggie asked, out of breath. Catching of to Glenn as he limped to the bus.

“We have to get everybody out of here. Where’s Beth?”Glenn grunted as he climbed into the bus.

“She went…she went to find Judith.”Maggie exasperated.

He may have been groggy like at the moment but he did remember telling Noemi to go on the bus. He’d thought he as going to have to explain things but, the situation seemed self-explanatory enough. He went to do sit down at a spot to rest before going to find Noemi.

Maggie noticed that Glenn was laying down in the seat Noemi had been sitting in previously but, not beside Noemi.

“Glenn, where’s Noemi?” Maggie asked.

Glenn looked upward at Maggie with confused expression,

“What do you mean where’s Noemi? She’s on the bus, isn’t she?”  He asked, a little more panicky than he intended.

“I left her in that seat before I went to stop Beth from going off on her own,” Maggie explained.

That’s when Glenn knew what happened. Noemi must’ve been worried about him and went to find him on her own. He hadn’t heard Maggie ask someone which way she went and they point to the back of the bus.

“We'll find her. She'll be okay.” Maggie said, hauling off to the front of the bus.

“No,” Glenn replied.

“What?” Maggie inquired.

“No, you're not going by yourself. I'll be right back.” Glenn said as he started walking past Maggie.

          This lead to tiny dispute but, whether Glenn was going or not. Maggie being on the side that wouldn’t allow Glenn to go but, to no avail, he went anyway.

***

Daryl, Irina, and Carl were shooting at the incoming walkers and the Governor's people. Carl made a sideways glance at Irina and Daryl.

“Daryl!” Carl hollered over the sound of guns blazing.

“Yeah,”Daryl shouted a reply.

“I need to find Judith and my Dad!”the boy in the hat answered.

“Go! We’ll cover you!”Irina yelled out as she continued to shoot walkers.

“Thanks!”Carl said as ran the other direction. Daryl gawked at the dark-haired girl for a second then went back to shooting. He didn’t think the girl had any leadership bones in her body.

Soon, Daryl and Irina had to move a different location.  there was a stray walker head Daryl’s and Irina’s way.

“Uh. Mr.Dixon!” Irina called out, noticing the walker.

Daryl turned around to see what his daughter’s best friend was yelling about. He immediately shielded the younger from the walking dead creature.

“Get back!” He shouted to the girl as he tried to shot at the walker but, was out of ammunition.

***

Glenn was on his way to not only find his littlest sister but, his sister in law too. He scampered everywhere until he thought about inside.

“Oh god!” Glenn's thoughts raced as he rushed into whatever was left of the building. That is when he heard the rounds being fired. Within an instant, he runs to the source.

Noemi doesn’t know how long she’s been cooped up in this cell but, right know she doesn’t care. All she cares about is killing these brainless bastards and finding her brother. He was much too weak to defend himself. Granted, something could be said about herself.

Her face said nothing but, concentration. Despite this, she hasn’t counted the number of walkers she’s killed. It seemed to be at least twenty-three at the most. The rest teemed over the bodies to try to get to her but, eventually, she ran out of bullets.

“Guess it’s time for the knife.” She thought, oddly more annoyed than afraid. She flicked her large pocket knife open from her pocket. She emerged from her spot on the bed in the cell. Careful, not to move the box barricade by the cell door. She lifted her left arm and forced her blade into a head of a walker between the bars. After that, walker dropped to the smoke colored ground, another walker got a hold of her purple shirt in a death grip.

 The grip startled Noemi, making her lose her grip on her knife. She tries to reach for it but, she couldn’t reach it. That’s when she noticed her box barricade was coming loose because of the walkers nudging the door.

“Shit!”Noemi gulped.

Just when she thought her luck had run out, she heard gun fire from the right of her. She noticed the walkers were ambling away from her and to the source of the noise. She remained completely still until every one of them left. She didn’t even move when the death grip released her short sleeve.

Finally, the growling stopped and so did the shots. Noemi grabbed her knife off the floor and moved the box from the barred door.She opened it to find Glenn running toward her.  Noemi grinned as she sprinted to her older brother.

They reached into an embrace before pulled out of it.

“Why weren’t you on the bus!” Glenn puffed, demanding an answer.

“I was worried about you!” Noemi explained.

Glenn huffed frustratedly, “Noemi, I don’t need you to constantly throw yourself in danger just because, you are worried about me! I can take care of myself! Okay?”

Noemi looked up at him sadly, “ That’s what Jenny said to Alice.”She mumbled.

“Oh, Noemi-“Glenn began before he was interrupted by an explosion. “Come on! We got to catch the bus before they leave without us!” He said, letting out a short cough after. He grabbed his little sister’s tiny hand once they get out of the building, Glenn noticed the bus leaving.

***

Daryl and Irina were cornered by to the gate until Irina used her gun to shoot the walker. After the walker fell, Daryl had an idea. He used his knife and hand to hold the walker in place.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Irina asked.

“Using the walker ta mask our scent. Now, come on!” Daryl explained hurriedly.

With that, Irina bounded after her him like a little duckling following its mother.

“Don’t worry, Alice! We’re coming!” Irina's mind silently chanted.

After a while, the walker plan was dropped when Daryl found the tank. Irina’s ears had gotten used to the amount gunfire and snarling from walkers forming around them.

Next, Daryl took out a grenade and stuffed it into muzzle and barrel of the army green tank after, a scuffle with a guy on the tank.

“ Grenade!” A man yelled, ducking for cover from the ticking time bomb.

Not a minute later, they find Beth. Daryl ran near her.

“We got to get out of here.”Alice’s father told the blonde. Beth started the other direction before, Daryl rotated her toward them.” Hey! We go that way!”’ he ordered.

“ I was trying to find the kids to get them on the bus.”Beth expounded.

“We got to go, Beth. We got to go!” Daryl argued as the trio ran away from the about to explode army tank.

***

When Alice got there, there were only a few pieces missing from the prison’s walls. Now, it’s building wee blown to bits and piece, however, Alice had no time to mourn over the place she grew a custom to. She had walkers to kill!

She shoved her machete into small walkers with her right hand. Her left arm was covered in blood and swollen from the bullet wound.  The next walker she went to, she ran in front of, dodged when it tried to nab her and shoved the walker with her body to make it fall. Then, she swiftly stabbed into the head. Afterward, she heard a large roaring sound and looked over to a huge explosion erupting on the other side of the prison. She took cover behind a crumbled building. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the chaos came to an end.

““Carl! Carl!” Alice caught Rick yelling. Alice crept off the ground and out of her hiding spot. Wincing at the pressure that she applied to her left arm.

“Rick?”Alice called out, couch at the sudden smoke and ash in the air that was entering her lungs. She didn’t receive any reply.

“Rick?” Alice hollered again.At last, a figure came into view.

“Alice?” she heard the figure rasp.

“Rick!” Alice bounded to him. He was a bad sight to look at. His face was bloodied and broken with a black eye to put the icing on the cake. His clothes have seen better days too.

“Damn!” Alice thought.

“Alice, Where’s Carl?” Rick asked.

“Uh, I haven’t seen him. Sorry. I have ya seen Dad or Irina?” Alice inquired.

“Haven’t seen them since before all this. I’m sorry.” Rick responded. That’s when he saw Alice’s wounded arm.

“You bit?” he inquired.

“What?” asked Alice, confused to why he would think that. Then, she recalled her arm. “Oh, no. I got shot by some fly away gunfire.” She countered.

“Alright, once we find a house, we’ll find a way to stitch you up,” Rick said, cough a little.

“Nah, ya don’t have ta. I can sew myself up.” Alice explained.

Rick’s eyebrow’s frowned in bewilderment, “You know how to stitch?”

“Yeah, how do ya think I made my machete holder?” she asked, motioning to the pocket holder dangling from her hip made out of green, brown, and blue patches.

“Alright then,”stated Rick then, he went back to finding his son. Alice called for Daryl or Irina as Rick did this.

“Carl!” Rick called.

“Dad! Irina!”Alice yelled.

 “Carl?” Rick asked Alice twisted herself to see if their leader actually found his son. Rick ran up to Carl, who was dressed in a gray shirt, blue jeans, and his sheriff hat.

“ Judith. Where is she?”Rick questioned.

 “I don't know,” Carl said. Then, he looked over and gasped. Alice looked to where he was looking and saw Judith’s baby carrier. It had blood stains on the light pink and gray.

“Lil' Twa,”Alice wept, tears licked her ash covered rosy cheeks.

“No.”Carl sobbed. Soon, they heard a walker crawling away from the carrier. Carl grabbed his shotgun and shot at it as he cried of his dead baby sister. Rick and Alice pulled him back after the millionth shot and didn’t kill it.

“ Carl. Carl!” Rick said to him, sobbing. Alice struggled to pull her boyfriend away.

“We've got to get out of here. We've got to go.”  Rick soothed his son,  cradling him in his arms after, Carl finally shot the dead living person in the head.  “Shh. Shh. Shh. It's over. It's over. It's over.”  Rick said.

Alice held Carl’s hand since Rick held him. After that, they start headed out of the destroyed prison they once called home. Rick was being helped to walk by Alice, with her right arm, and Carl. Carl looks back before Rick directed,

“Don't look back, Carl. Just keep walking.”

 

 


	23. Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

 

Alice knew how long it had been since the prison fell due to the Governor's onslaught. She would look at the sky to see if it was day and count the times it was blue. A little trick she learned when she was in her hotel.

Rick and Carl have been walking on the same road for some time. Carl helped carry his beaten father for awhile but, then he stopped and let Alice hold him. Which, Alice was having a hard time due to her left upper arm being injured. By now, Alice’s left arm was throbbing to the size of a baseball.

Alice noticed the change in Carl’s demeanor, which seemed angry and vapid. Understandable to Alice, they lost their home they have been in for a least a year or two, Alice didn’t know that either.

 _“Come ta think of it, I don’t know my age anymore. I think I’m thirteen? Fourteen?”_ Alice thought.

“ Carl, slow down.”Rick breathed.

“ Carl, stop! We need ta stay tagether.” Alice hollered after him.

“We got to find a place with food, supplies and medical thangs for Alice.”Rick heaved.

Carl still ignored his father and Alice. Alice looked over at Rick then, back at Carl.

 _“I’ll talk ta 'em later.”_ Alice held.

“ Hey. We're gonna be..” Rick started. Alice let him go so he can catch up to Carl. He put his hand on his shoulder only for him to glare at his father. Then, he walks ahead once more. Alice bounded up to Rick to help him again. Crows cawed at them to hurry before the walkers show up. Finally, they reach an empty parking lot with litter, a motorcycle laying on the ground and an ashen stone house. Alice is still surprised to see anything white surviving after the world ended.

Alice lets go of Rick when they reached to the porch of the house. Rick leaned against the wall, by the door.  Alice looked to the side, staring at the woods they have been walking in for days now. Wondering just where her father was and if he was alive. Soon after, she drew her attention to Rick when he spoke,

“Wait outside, okay? You keep watch. Alice, there might be some medical stuff inside.”

Before Alice could agree to that, Carl scoffed,

“ You keep watch. You can barely stand. I'm not gonna let you two go in there alone.”

“Excuse me?” Rick said in disbelief.

“Why not? “Alice asked.

“Because, both of you are injured and aren’t ready to defend yourself yet!” Carl debated.

“Um, first of all, I spent a long ass time by myself when all of this,”Alice spat, moving her hands to point at the harsh world around them. “Went down so, if anything, I can fend fer myself! Secondly, I have a good arm left that I can use!”

“ An arm, Alice!” Carl bickered. “What happens when there is more than one walker? What then?”He asked.

“I’ll figure it out! I’ve done it before!” Alice replied.

Carl let out a frustrated sigh prior to Alice speaking,

“Now, with that said, I do agree that Rick shouldn’t go alone and someone should keep watch.”

“Okay then, I'm gonna help you clear it. You should just let me do it myself.” Carl trailed off.

“No!”Alice disagreed.

“Enough, both of you!” Rick growled, tired of the two children fighting.

“We’ll all go in.”he declared.

“ Let's go.” He ordered as his hand turned the door knob then, pushed it open. Carl held his gun out, ready to shoot while Rick did this.The green door with silver handles and locks made a squeak, saying hello to the newcomers of the made of gray stones household. Other than that, the house was pretty vacant. They walked in softly and alert with artilleries pointed to a long bar table with ash trays, a yellow and red bottle scattered across it.

Rick pounded on the kitchen walls. If there were walkers, the sound would draw them out.

“Kitchen's clear.” Rick states, then, he rummages through the drawers and cabinets.

“Alice!" Carl yelled from afar. Alice followed Carl’s voice to a royal blue bathroom with bleached trim.  The countertop was marbled with a small sink placed in the center. The curtains were a navy colored with a gold design.

“Yeah, she whispered.

Carl lifted up a snowy box with a red cross on it.

“I don’t know if there is a thread in there but, I’m pretty sure there is gauze,” Carl smiled, handing the box to her.

First, Alice takes the box from the boy. Then, went over the shower curtain to check for any walkers. Once the coast was clear, she sat down on the closed toilet. She set the medical kit on the edge of the counter.

“I’m going to look for some rubbing alcohol.” said Carl as he walked out of the bathroom, “I’ll be right back!” he announced.

“Okay!”Alice replied.

She pushed her light brown sleeve up to see the wound. She carefully rolled her arm around to the inflamed, sore, and wound. Also, painful purple danced around her injury.

“Ugh, that don’t look good,” Alice stated the obvious in disgust. She opened the box with her right hand. Gauze, plastic white tweezers, red scissors, pads, and a shiny silver needle could be found.

“No thread, great.” She huffed.

Right then, Carl waltzed back into the bathroom, carrying a cloudy transparent bottle with clear liquid in it. On it was a label with black and red words on it.

“Yikes! That doesn’t look good!”He winced.

“Yeah, that’s what I said.”Alice chuckled.

He grabbed a rag and knelt in front of her. Alice wasn’t sure why she blushed when he did this but, she did. He put a piece of blueberry cloth to the rim of the bottle after unscrewing the cap.

Alice turned her left side to the right.

“ You might want to find something to bite on,” Carl stated. Next, Alice’s white teeth grabbed the other end of the tan sleeves. After that, the brunette girl of the two clenched her fangs as the burning sensation was now present in her wound. She hissed and howled into the piece of clothing.

“Sorry!” Carl apologized taking the alcohol covered towel. A few hisses later, Carl bit his lip,

“We really need stitches,” he said.

“Why?”Alice asked, not particularly liking his tone of voice.

“The bullet is still in there” Carl huffed.

The girl’s eyes widen when hearing this statement.

“Oh, um okay. Go find a sewin kit.”Alice instructed.

Carl gaped at her but the facial expression was quickly wiped away as soon as he realized his girlfriend was serious.

“U-uh yeah sure,” Carl responded before, running out to find the sewing kit.

While he was gone, Alice looked at her injury. The cleaning liquid didn’t take the bruising or how swollen it was but,

“At least, it’s no longer bloody.”Alice thought.

She drew her attention when her partner returned.

She noticed that he had an amber brown box with baby green and pink flowers frolicking on it. Its handle was the same color as the box without the flowers on it. There was also something else in his other hand. It looked like some weird poofy light blue vest.

“One sewing kit,” Carl announced as he hauled the sewing kit on the marble counter.

“And one vest for a very beautiful girl.” He smiled.

The blood in Alice’s body rushed to her cheeks. She wanted to say something snarky but, she just couldn’t form any other words besides thank you.

Carl listened intently as Alice explained everything he needed to know to get her stitched up. Due to the fact that the wound is at an odd angle, he had to do it. Not that he mind, anything for the girl he loves.

Carl smirked, “There. All done. What do you think?” She got up and checked out her arm in the mirror.

Alice smiled, “Not bad City Boy! I must be a good teacher.”

Then, she sat down back on the toilet to wrapped her upper limb up in gauze. She gingerly placed her sleeve over the wound. After, Carl handed the vest over to her so she put it on her. It made swishing noises when she lifted her arms up under her now long hair to flick it out from the poofy cerulean jail.That’s when she remembered Carl’s attitude on the road.

“What was that all about back there, on the road?” Alice asked.

Carl huffed before replying, “Look, I’’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you guys but, I’m just a bit angry right now.”

“Is it because the prison?”Alice asked.

“No, I’m mad at my Dad. He’s let the Governor go on numerous occasions and he came back every time! If my Dad would’ve just killed him when he had the chance we would still be in fucking prison!” Carl explained.

Alice wasn’t really surprised he felt this way. She too agreed that Rick should have killed the Governor a long time ago but, there's nothing she could do now. However, she did think he needed to cut his Dad some lack. He was just a cop before the world ended and it’s a big role to fill in a leader of a group like they had. Nevertheless, there was something that Carl could do that everyone else has probably done.

“Sounds ta me ya need you ta throw a fit,”Alice stated.

Carl raised an eyebrow ,“What?” he asked.

“Yeah. Yer obviously upset with everything and need ta scream or kick somethin’ in or break somethin’.”Alice explained. “My dad’s done it, Irina’s done it. Hell, even I did it when Merle left me in the city.”

“ But don’t babies do that?”Carl inquired, skeptical about the whole thing.

“Don’t think of it like that! Think of it like when the cable went out durin’ the a show somebody’s watchin.”the Dixon daughter clarified.

“Oooh, I hated when that happened!”Carl declared.

“Well, there ya go,”Alice smirked.

Both of them stroll back near the front door where Rick was.

“That might be all that's left.” He announced once he noticed them. Then, the three of them heard the snarling of a walker and follow it to a tan room with wooden and computer chairs stacked on top other. Behind it emerged a walker from the dark doorway.

“ I can get it from here,” Carl confirmed as head toward the noise.

“No-No, it's weak. I'll draw it out. Stay back.” Rick demanded before hesitating to pull the furniture down to the floor. The sound of the wooden chairs rumbled through the house. Alice jumped out of the way to avoid the undead human.

Then, Rick used a hatchet to kill it but, it got stuck thus, not killing the walker. He looks over to see that Carl has is a gun pointed at the head of the undead creature.

“Damn it. Don't.” Rick directed.

However, he doesn’t appear to hear his father when he pulled the trigger. Rick gazed at Carl in shock and anger.

“I said not to.” Rick scolded.

“You couldn't do it with the ax.” Carl debated.

“He’s not wrong.”Alice thought.

“I had it. “Rick stated prior to panting for a breath oxygen. Once he regained composure. He told him,

“ Every bullet counts. What if you needed that one later?” He sighed frustratedly  See what you can find. Then let's move on.” Then, he yanked the hatchet out of the walker’s head.

After the fiasco. Carl and Alice took food off the shelf in the back by the doorway the walker came from a while, Rick went into the kitchen. The trio of them decided to make it a game to see who gets the most food. Not much to Alice’s liking,it seemed Carl was winning the race.

“If there was more food, I’d so win” Alice muttered.

“Tch yeah right! You’re just mad that I got more food than you!” Carl sneered.

“Yeah well, at least, I can still beat ya at arm wrestling!”Alice teased.

“You only beat me because I wasn’t ready! I bet if I was ready, I would’ve beat you! Fair in the square!”Carl announced.

“Whateva ya say Carl” She rolled her eyes as her smile stretched wider. The arm wrestling memories reminded Alice of the question of how old she was. She looked at Carl. She wondered if he knew his age.

“Probably not.” Alice thought then, an idea popped into her head.

“Hey Carl, what year were born?” She asked.

Carl looked from under his sheriff hat at Alice in confusion, “1999, why?” he answered.

“Oh, no reason. I was just thinkin’ about things and realized I don’t know my age anymore.”Alice stated.

“Oh well, what year were you born?” Carl questioned.

“2000,”Alice replied, with a little pride.

“Really? What month?” He asked.

“January.” She smirked.

“That means I’m older than you by six months!” Carl chuckled in the victory.

Before Alice could reply, Rick came into the room again.

“The kitchen wasn't empty after all,” Rick said, coming back into the room with a sack and some food. Carl and Alice met him halfway.

“My haul. You two?”  He asked.

“I win,” Carl said, staring at his father.

With that, the three of them left the bar to a white and green house farther away. Rick called out to Carl however, Carl hadn’t responded. It had an arc doorway made out of leaves with a brown walking path leading to white side rails with giant gray chariots resting near it on the red rusted porch with dried up fall leaves upon it.

“That one's as good as any,”  Rick stated.

From inside the house moaning and groaning of walkers could be heard. Carl with his gun pointed forward, walks ahead down the reddish brown path with Rick and Alice following. Once they got there, Alice took note of the two snowy rocking chairs off to the left along with some light tan comfortable lawn chairs.

Carl leans up against the dark green shutters by the door while Alice positioned herself on the other side with her machete out and ready.

“We have to clear it before sundown,”Rick said before ramming into the door causing it to open to creamy walls.

Quickly, they split apart  to investigate separately. Alice went off in her own direction but, near Carl who had checked a room and was ambling a wood and glass door. Alice noticed he was headed down the hall to the opened doors.

“Carl,”Rick called.

The boy of the group ignored his father and continued. “ I got it. All the doors down here are open.”

“Just stop!”Rick ordered.

Then, Carl got fed up with his father barking orders at him. He pounded against the wall with his fist and began to yell at him.

“Hey, asshole! Hey, shitface! - Hey—“Carl was quickly cut off by Rick.

“ Watch your mouth!” He barked.

Alice wanted to intervene so badly but, didn’t dare do anything. She just stood there in silence on the stairs. She knew what Carl was doing, even if he wasn’t aware of it. He needed to do this.

“Are you kidding me? If there's one of them down there, they would have come out.”Carl reasoned however Rick didn’t listen to him. Then, Carl stormed upstairs with Alice.

Both reached a large teenagers room with shelves and walls filled with junk. Drinking in the room, they saw a flat screen TV with piles of video games stacked to half its height.

“Man, this kid was spoiled!” Alice claimed.

“You didn’t have one?” Carl concluded.

“Nope,” Alice answered.

Carl takes another look at the technology in amazement before, sighing and pushing the games out of the way and onto the floor.

“Tch, Geez Carl, what did they ever do to you?” Alice joked.

Once he hadn’t replied, she got the message that it was best to leave him be as he unplugged a wire from the television and tied it around the handle on the door. Walkers’ grunts were heard from the other side. After, they reached Rick, who was having struggles with a couch.

“I tied the door shut,”Carl stated.

“ We don't need to take any chances.”Rick cautioned, continuing with his couch moving.

“You don't think it'll hold?”Carl asked bitterly.

“Oh, here we go.”Alice huffed in her thoughts.

“Carl.” Rick half warned, half reassuring.

“It's a strong knot. Clove hitch. Shane taught me. Remember him?” Carl reasoned.

“Shane?” Alice wondered. She knew of Shane when Carl told about him to her back at the prison but, she didn’t understand why her boyfriend brought him up now.

Rick paused before hesitating to reply, “ Yeah, I remember him. I remember him every day. There something else you want to say to me?”After shoving the couch some more to block the door some more, he began to wheeze.

“ This'll have to do for the night,” Rick announced as he goes over to the sack of food they collected earlier.

“ You two gonna have some? You should eat. Especially you Alice.” Rick suggested, handing her some food.

“Than- “Alice started before being rudely interrupted by Carl.

“We should save it.”

“Carl! Mind your manners!”Rick growled.

“ But we need to!” Carl squawked.

“That’s not the point! She’s your girlfriend and you treat her with respect! I didn’t raise you that way! Apologize! Now!” the Sherriff barked.

Carl huffed and looked at Alice. He knew his father was right. He had been out of line with Alice. Even if it had been a little over it, it still wasn’t an okay thing.

“I’m sorry.”Carl apologized.

“It’s fine,” Alice responded. She was honestly surprised by Rick’s actions. She didn’t need for Carl’s apology. Carl’s going through an angry phase right now, it’ll pass.

“They always do.” Alice believed.

Rick hands some food over to Carl,

“You need to eat,”Rick stated.

“I don't want any,” Carl muttered, still bitter about his father.

“Eat it.”Alice jumped when Rick threw the bag of food on the ground. “ Now.”he wheezed out before, storming off in a different direction.

“Ya should listen ta ‘em more,”Alice suggested.

“What?”Carl asked.

“Ya heard me. I know ya angry and believe me, I get it but, ya gotta understand he wasn’t a leader before all of this, he was a cop and a father , that’s it. Now, he is a leader of a group,tryin’ ta survive after the world ended and a father. He put more on his plate than he could chew.” Alice reasoned.

“So, you’re saying I should cut him some slack?” Carl asked.

“I’m sayin he’s a part of what ya got left so, at least, give ‘em that!” Alice yelled before then stormed off to a chair nearby.  After that, Carl sets up a mattress with a blanket to lay on and Rick lays down on the couch to catch up on some rest.

“Care to join me?” Carl asked, hoping his girlfriend would accept the offer as an apology for earlier.

Alice looked over at him and smirked, “That’s mighty brave ya City Boy. Now, I dare ya ta say that when my father’s around!”

“And die?”Carl squawked a laugh. “No thank you!” he sang as he plotted himself on the mattress. Chuckling as she got up from the wooden chair with a cloth cushion., Alice announced that she was taking the couch upstairs.

“Kay,” Carl replied, taking off his hat and putting on the floor beside him.

The next day rolled around and Alice was snuggled into the white and odd black pattern blankets on the for one. She awaken by Carl with two white bowls of flakey cereal with silver spoons in them but, no milk for them to incubate in. Before she let out a big fox yawn, She noticed his hat was missing from his head.

“Hey, sleepy head. How’d you sleep?” Carl asked handing her the bowl to her after she sat up, making the sheets rustle behind her. She gladly took the bowl and leaned against a pillow laying on the headboard that had the exact pattern and colors of the sheets. Lastly, she folding her legs is-cross.

“Surprising well,”Alice replied.  She looked at the cereal in the bowl. There was only plain sandy yellow oddly rounded shavings in it. She used the spoon to grabbed a spoonful of it. After she shoved it into her mouth, she remembered Rick and his condition. She swallowed before asking,

“How’s Rick?” She asked.

“Still asleep,” Carl replied. Then, he climbed onto the bed and planted himself against the wall. She continued to as she stared at him. After she finished, Carl asked,

“What?”

“Oh, nothin’. Just ya look weird without yer hat.” Alice answered.

“Oh gee thanks!” Carl chuckled. “I could say the same with your machete.”

Alice draws up her machete which, was resting by the bed on one of its legs, to her. She flashed it to Carl.

“That betta?”she smirked.

Next, Carl gave her a playful scowl,  “Show off.”

Alice shrugged her shoulders in response. She noticed the bookshelf filled with literature.

“Hey Alice, can you hand me one of those,” Carl asked, his attention on the same books Alice was looking at. Without a word, Alice reached over to grasp a book. She didn’t look at the cover but, she did notice giant letters on the back that said ‘NEVER’.

“Thank you,” Carl said,

He took it from her and opened it to the first page. Alice got up and went downstairs. She reached the kitchen’s counter, which was a good place to put her elbows on.

Looking outside, she thought out nature’s beauty.  Somehow her mind drifted off to life before the world came to an end. How happy everything was. How she and her dad would practice hunting and tracking.

Her dark eyebrows frowned in worry as she thought about her father. Last time she saw him, she was tied up with Michonne and Hershel. It was just like the time when she had her hotel. She had two other people with her and didn’t know whether her father was alive or not. Yup, back to the square for her. She fought the urge to cry because she remembered the conversation she and Irina had back at the hotel that would always five her a sliver of hope every now and then.

_*Flashback*_

_Alice and Irina were talking about how things were before everything went to hell in her room hotel room. Noemi was drawing a picture like she usually did. The walls were mauve with white accents. Then, Alice’s father came up and she told the story about how she and he got separated._

_“How do you know he’s dead? Did you see him dead?” Irina asked._

_Alice stopped dead in her tracks. She hadn’t seen him dead. She just assumed that after a few days of seeing people being eaten and then, not seeing him a few days after._

_“I just didn’t see ‘em,”Alice said._

_“Just because you don’t see someone doesn’t mean they aren’t alive out there,” Irina explained.She put a hand on her should and Alice looked up. Coffee brown but, emerald with tinted blue. “If he’s anything like you, he most definitely made it.” She smiled._

_*Flashback over*_

_“He’s alive.”_ Alice reasoned with herself. _“There ain’t a body. He’s okay.”_

She was quickly jolted out of her thoughts when she heard Carl screaming for his dad to wake up. Thinking walkers got in, she whipped out her machete and made her way into the living room.Once she got there to find that nothing was wrong, she inquired.

“Carl? What’s wrong?”

He ignored his girlfriends’ question and continued to panic.

“Wake up!” Carl shrieked. Then, the door started to budge violently alongside  the coach Rick was resting on followed by walkers groaning. Immediately, he responded by picking up his hat and  getting up from his kneeling position. Alice moved closer to him.

“Great now, what do we do?” Alice asked in a hushed whisper.

“I-I don’t know,”Carl replied. Right after he said this, he thought up a plan.“Actually, I do.Come on, I need your help.” Carl ordered as he put on his hat. Quietly, they snuck out the back door down the stairs. They heard walkers off in the distance. They saw them banging on the door, begging to be let in. Carl’s long sleeves from his shirt hung as she held his gun with both hands. Carl ambled up a few feet behind them with Alice wielding her machete.

 _“Only twa? Really”_ Alice thought.

The minute they got there, Carl dropped his gun to his side and relaxed. He stared at them for a few seconds to a minute then, glanced at Alice, who glanced back. The Carl glared back at them and shouted.

“ Hey, you!”

The walkers turned around to the sound of his voice. One female and one male. The male one was almost bald with a few yellow strands of hair coming out of his scalp. He was wearing a typical farmer’s outfit. The women had brown hair with a blue dress that made a light sky colored jacket with red, dark azure, and transparent yellow stripes going down it. Her boots were short to her ankle and brown.

 _“What the fuck is he doing!”_ Alice’s thought hissed. Then, she remembered Carl saying that he needed her help. Now, she got what he was doing.  Quickly she joined in,

“ Walkin’ meat piles! Over here!” She yelled.

“ Fresh meat right here!”Carl added. “ Come and get it.”

“Free buffet!” Alice antagonized as she backed away from the now incoming walkers head for them.

“Come on! Let's take a walk.” He called.

Alice began to panic due to not being able to come up with something else to say. Quickly, she used her long nails to tap on her blade hard. The tinging noise seemed to draw the female walkers over to her more.

 _“Any noise is better than none.”_ Alice supposed.

“ Keep up,” Carl said before they reach the corner. “That's it.” He said quieter. “ Keep coming. Very good. Come on, keep coming. Come on.” He would say, pausing after every sentence. That’s when he noticed the male walker trying to grab Alice. Now, he wasn’t jealous of a walker. That’d be ridiculous but, he was angry that he tried to eat his girlfriend. “Right here, look at me!” Carl barked. “There you go,” Carl said feeling accomplished. “Come on. That's it. Just a little farther. Come on.” He said as he lead them to another house. Alice heard growling behind them  and she turned her head to see another walker dressed in a white polo and blue jeans. He too was balding.

“Carl!” Alice cried.

“ Oh, shit!” He squeaked before wrestling with the walker. Then, the other walkers came after him. The first guy walker went after Alice and on reflex, she jumped to the side. She saw a shovel and quickly grabbed to whack the dead creature upside the head. After she did that, it tumbled down the hill to Carl.

“Fuck!” Alice gasped, running down the hill to him after. Carl was on the ground with his pistol in his hand. He shot the female walker in the head as well as the one Alice dealt with. Both of them played on top of them. Then, the new was tumbling to him. Carl began to struggle to be freed but, they weren’t budging. Instead, he shot three times before, he landed a bullet into its head.

“Carl!” Alice yelped, finally arriving at the scene. She swiftly helped Carl remove the walkers on them. Carl got up and grabbed his hat later to throw-up on the ground.

Alice gagged a little when she saw this. _“Gross.”_ Alice thought in disgust.

After that, he picked himself up, grabbed his hat, dusted it off and announced weakly. “I win.”

Alice raised an eyebrow at him, “Really, that’s what yer worried about? Not that fact ya almost died?” she asked.

“Yup,”He responded.

Alice shook her head as she followed him to an intersection filled with reddish orange leaves. Carl looked around to see any walkers were around.

“Not a single walker in sight,” Alice said, thinking aloud.

“Cool” he smiled them went down the left street, the Dixon girl followed him. They finally arrived back at the house. Carl took off the now dirty long sleeve shirt, leaving the black t-shirt. Alice laid down on the mattress Carl left out from himself.

“I killed three walkers,” Carl announced to his dad, who was still asleep on the couch.

“They were at the door. They were gonna get in, but Alice and I lured them away.” Carl explained. Alice watched him as he talked. “ I killed them. I saved you. I saved you.” He repeated the last part.

“Aw fuck, here it comes.” Alive winced at her thought. She knew what was coming. Carl hadn’t fully blown up yet and she could tell he needed to. Alice braced herself for the worst he was going to say. She’s thankful Rick is asleep.

“ I didn't forget while you had us playing farmer. I still know how to survive. Lucky for us.” I trailed off. I don't need you anymore.” Alice cringed at that, she knew that was not true but, she didn’t dare say anything about it because her boyfriend was clearly having a moment. “I don't need you to protect me anymore. I can take care of myself. You probably can't even protect me anyways. You couldn't protect Judith. You couldn't protect” Carl pausing to sigh. “ Hershel or Glenn or Maggie. Michonne, Daryl, or Mom. You just wanted to plant vegetables. You just wanted to hide. He knew where we were and you didn't care! You just hid behind those fences and waited for” He sighed once more.  “They're all gone now. Because of you!” He yelled.  “They counted on you! You were their leader!” He sniffled after he sat down near his father, nudging his leg.  “But now you're nothing.

Alice wanted to go over there when she heard the second sniffle, thinking he was done. However, he wiped his face on his sleeve and cleared his face of any traces of tears left. He sniffled, sighed, and got with the bad of food Alice and Carl got along the way. He dumped the food on the floor and said calmly,

“I'd be fine if you died.”

That was the last straw for Alice. Fit or no fit, you don’t say that to a family member. She learned her lesson. She got up and followed him.

“ Carl!” Alice growled.

“What?” He grunted angrily.

“You can’t just say that shit!” She hissed.

“Why not?!” Carl asked.

“Why not?! Did ya ever think that karma might nip yer ass and make it come true? While yer angry, ya don’t want ‘em dead!” Alice reasoned.

“Oh yeah, how would you know?” Carl asked.

“ Because, it happened ta me!” Alice hissed feeling a lump down her throat.

“What?” Carl asked.

“Last time I said something stupid like that, Merle died!” Alice cried. Accidently, she let tears slip from her eyes.

“Alice…”Carl trailed off. He had a clue that she was hurting over Merle’s death but, he didn’t think it was this much. Before Alice could storm off, Carl grabbed her and pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry.” .

Alice flinched at the contact but, rapidly she fell into it. She gripped on the back of his t-shirt. “Don’t tell me that, tell ‘em that.” She whimpered. She felt something on top of her head and a rub on her back.

Her cheeks turned pink when she realize what Carl was doing. “U-Um Carl?” Alice asked.

“Yes?” He inquired.

“ Ya feel betta?” She asked.

“Yeah, actually. I feel great!” Carl said, letting go of Alice.

“Come on. We got to get more food.” Carl announced.

“Right behind ya!” Alice replied, following his trail.

They had been walking what feels like hours before, they come across a pure white house. On the way, Carl ripped out a yard light out of the ground.

“What ya need that for?” Alice requested.

“To kill walkers,” Carl replied.

“Ah, okay,” Alice said.

Once they got to the door, Alice grinned,

“Betcha can’t ram the door in.”

“Oh yeah?  You’re so on!” Carl smiled at the challenge.  Then, rams the door but doesn’t bust it open. He bounces off the door and onto the floor.

“Dammit!” He breathed.Alice walks over with her hand behind her back,

“What was that?” Alice snickered.

“Me, ramming a door in,”Carl replied.

Alice laughed as she offered a hand to Carl who gladly accepted it. “Come on.” She said. He grabbed his sheriff hat and placed it back on his head. Next, he snatched the lawn lamp.

Next, he went up to the door and wedged the pointed end of the lamp between the door and frame. He tried three times ramming the door once again. Finally, it had opened, letting out a hissing noise.

Next thing they see is  living room leading to a wide open kitchen with a table in the middle of it and pine cabinets opened. Carl and went in it and found food.  They quickly grab everything can that they could find.

Alice heard screech across the floor. She looked over to find, Carl pushing a small wooden table up to the counter.

“What are ya doin,” she asked.

“There is a giant can of pudding up there and I’m going to get it “ Carl he said determinedly, trying to reach for it.

“Are ya serious?” Alice's emerald eyes widen as she said this.

“Yeah, come look!” Carl cheered.

Alice walked over to him to see if he was right. She saw the humungous can most likely filled with pudding on the highest shelf in the kitchen

“Holy fuck! Ya weren’t kiddin!” she scrutinized in delight.

Carl jumped down from the counter, carrying the big can that read, ‘Chocolate Pudding” .

“Is it instant or the real deal?” Alice requested.

Carl frowned his eyebrows in confusion, “What?”

Alice sighed, “ Is it power or pre-made?”she asked.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Carl replied. Then, shook the can to find out. A liquid slouching around came from the can.

“It’s pre-made.” Alice cheered.

After that, they went up the army green stairs. They see two brown doors.

“You take that room and I’ll take this one,” Carl ordered. Alice went to the that had blue carpeting and a bed with a red blanket. She didn’t get a good look inside before she heard snarling and Carl struggling. She whirled around to Carl holding up the door.Alice ran over to next him. She put her body weight on the door. She heard a crunching of bone before the walker barged in the door. Making Carl and Alice fall to the ground.

Carl fired off his gun twice and regain his composure and back up to the wall, knocking over the pile of books.


	24. Chapter Twenty Three

Chapter Twenty- Three

Before Alice could help him, he desperately he tried one more time and a bullet hit his cheek. Knocking the walker back a couple of feet . This seemed to have angered it because it went right for Carl again. He tried to shoot again but the sound of limited ammo finally came into play.

Alice tried to help him but, Carl shouted, struggling with the walker.

          “No, I can handle this!”

Carl and the walker stumbled into a room with the name Sam on it. Alice wanted to aid Carl but, it was clear he wanted to do it himself. He wanted to prove himself and she understood that. She was like that with Jenny for awhile. That didn’t mean she couldn’t stand there in worry and be frantic for Carl’s safety.

           Finally, Carl came out of the room, trying to close the door. However, the books he knocked over were blocking his path. The walker got up and trudged after Carl, snarling and growling.

          “Kick the books!” Alice ordered. She pointed toward the pile of books.

          Carl looked down after that and realized what she was talking about. He thrusted his foot at the reading material. The books went flying across the floor. Before the walker reached them, he slammed the door shut. The walker crashed and thumped against the door. Next, he picked up a piece white chalk and wrote it,

        **‘WALKER INSIDE. GOT MY SHOE, DIDN’T GET ME’**

“Ya alright?” She asked, lending a hand to him.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine.” Stuttered Carl.

Like a bird, Alice swooped her hand upside Carl’s head, knocking off his hat. Carl’s hand reached the back of his head, tending to the present pain. He looked over to her.

          “Ow! What was that for?” he asked.

          “Don’t do that shit again! Ya almost scared me ta death!” Alice exclaimed.

          “Sorry.” He apologized, half smiling.

          Alice sighed at his stupidity as she cleaned her blade by wiping it on her jeans. Carl picked up his hat and the sack with the big can of pudding off the floor For some odd reason, she remembered that they didn’t get spoons for the pudding. She took this moment and ran back down stairs.

          “Where are you going?” Carl hollered.

          “Ta get spoons!” She replied.

          “Spoons?” Carl whispered to himself.

He waited for the Dixon daughter to return. Finally, she returned with two silver spoons. She stuffed them into the bag and kissed Carl on the cheek. She’s not sure why she did but, she felt compelled to do so. Carl gave a small awkward smile when Alice went ahead of him.

Next, they walked over to another door that led to another bedroom, filled with an elementary pink and purple covered bed. The walls were a shade lighter than the blanket on the bed. Carl and Alice looked around the room for something they could use. Pausing her search, Alice climbed on the bed to look out the window. She saw the dusted umber shingles of the house along with trees.

          She placed her hands on the pine headboard. Smiling at the trees dancing in the wind.

          “I miss climbin trees.”Alice gloomed with her thoughts.

          “You climbed trees?” Carl asked, overhearing her speak.

          “Yeah,” Alice replied. She was much to enveloped in the outside world to notice that she had said her thought aloud. She glanced at Carl then back at the luscious trees. Then, an idea formed in her head. She tried to push the window open but, her injury from a few days ago prevented her. She hissed before letting go of the window. Carl whipped around as a reaction to Alice’s yelp of pain.

          “Are you alright?” Carl asked.

          “ Yeah, I’m fine,” Alice grunted.

However, Carl didn’t buy her answer judging by the eyebrow he raised. He waltzed over the side of the bed.

          “Let me see it,” Carl suggested.

          “Ight.” Alice huffed. Carl grabbed her wrist and pushed up her sleeve gently. To Carl’s relief, the stitches were still closing the wound and the bruise had become a purplish brown color.

          “It looks okay,” Carl said, pulling her rusted colored sleeve downward to her wrist softly.

          “What were you trying to do?” Carl asked curiously.

          “I was tryin ta go onta the roof,”Alice replied.

          “Why?” The dark haired boy inquired.

          “Because, I wanna have fun like I did with Irina back at the hotel,” Alice explained, innocently. Carl shook his head, wondering just what would stop his girlfriend.

          “Here, let me help you,” Carl said as he went over to the window. He unlatched the window then lifted upward. He turned back to Alice and moved his arms to the window while slightly bowing playfully.

          “Ladies first.” He smiled

          “I ain’t no lady,” Alice smirked.

Despite this, she went ahead anyway. The brunet put her upper body out of the window.  Her hands landed on the rough tiles. She looked behind her to find a place to put her foot when she noticed Carl looking a little zone out.

          “Carl?”Alice asked. Alice’s voice wasn’t enough for him to snap out of his trance. He was biting his lip and she believed she had seen a reddish pink color replacing his pale cheeks.

          _“What is he starin’ at?”_ Alice wondered. Her green eyes track the trail his blue ones that made a beeline to a certain lower area. Alice’s face flushed, _“Oh my god! He’s checkin me out!”_ she mused. She bit her lip as she thought about what to do. Regaining her confidence, she smirked,

          “Enjoyin’ the view City-Boy?”She hollered.

                   That time, Alice’s voice made Carl jump right out of his skin.

                   “Huh? Wha-”Carl stuttered. He looked over to Alice who was smirking at him with rosy cheeks. The question she asked finally registered into his brain. Suddenly, the fear of his girlfriend kicked in. He stumbled and rambled over all the excuses he could come up with.

          Alice let out a chuckle as her boyfriend babbled on, stopping Carl in his tracks. He didn’t know whether to run away or start laughing too.

          “Wha-what’s so funny?” he asked.

          “Ya! Ya so cute when yer all flustered!”Alice giggled.

          Carl seemed to take offense to her calling him cute because in return he retorted,“I-I’m not cute! I’m manly as hell,thank you!”.

“I-I’m not cute! I’m manly as hell,thank you!”.

          “Says the guy who just had to get that big ass can of chocolate pudding!” She smirked with a raised eyebrow.

          “Says the girl who got excited over it!” Carl snapped.

Alice’s head lolled on her shoulder and danced in the air like a snake listening to music play as she realized he had made a valid point.

          “Touche, City-Boy!” she smiled.  She placed her right foot on the headboard in the room. With that foot and her hands, she shoved herself forward more out of the window. Then, she climbed completely out the window. After that, Carl followed suit.

          Carl carefully made his way to the edge while, Alice walks on as carefree as can be. Once they both sat down Carl set the sack in between them. Carl grabbed the spoons and handed one to his girlfriend. Then, he looked at the can and bit his lip. Alice’s green eyes caught this action,

          “What’s wrong?” she asked.

          “You didn’t happen to bring a can opener,did you?” he inquired.

          _“Aw shit!”_ Alice thought bitterly, cursing herself for remembering to get the spoons but, not a can opener. Within that moment, she remembered her machete and how she would use it to open cans before she went to the prison.

          “ No, but, “ She began, setting the spoon under her leg so the wind wouldn’t blow it away. “I have this.” After she stated this, she withdrew her machete from her pouch.

          “That’ll work,” Carl replied.

          Before she crammed her weapon into the can and opened it, she saw that it had 112 ounces of pudding!

“Wow!” Alice exclaimed, her eyes bulging out of her eye sockets.

“What?”Carl requested.

“ This thing has 112 ounces of pudding!” Alice gawked.

“No way!”Carl gasped.

“Shit ya not! Look!”She said. She picked up the semi-heavy can and showed him the back. Carl’s jaw dropped at the sight of this.

“Holy shit! We hit the jackpot!” Carl grinned.

“Fuck yeah,we did!” Alice shouted.

She lifted the lid up with excitement. Alice’s mouth watered at the sight of chocolate pudding. She couldn’t remember that last time she had pudding. 

          She looked over at Carl, who had already started digging into the pudding. She grabbed her spoon and did the same. They were both sure they heard the walker Carl fought earlier but, neither of them cared.

She stared out into the neighbor all rundown and trashed. One would be disgusted or sadden by the sight but, not her. It reminded her of when she and the Rhee sisters would sit on the roof at the hotel. A wave of melancholy washed over her. Oh, how she was missing them right now and Carl could tell.

          Carl looked over at her from under his hat, “ She’s  going to be fine. You taught her to be.” He comforted.

          Alice glanced at him in shock, how did he know she was thinking about the sisters? Instead of voicing this, however, she just sighed, “I know but, it’s just…they still don't know a lot of things about survival that I know Jenny would want me ta teach ‘em! Now,” Alice paused her rant, taking in a breath. “They’re god knows where I can’t help’em survive.”

          There was a pause before Carl spoke, “You are helping them survive.”

          “What?” Alice questioned.

          “By teaching them the basics on how to fight, they know how to survive on their own with or without you,”Carl explained. “It's like the old saying goes, 'give a man fish, he eats today; teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

          As her boyfriend spoke, the realization had struck her like a hammer to a nail. He was right but, it didn't change the fact she was worried for their safety. They were the only people that didn't her leave her right away. 

          “Yeah I know but,” Alice sighed. “She and her sister’s are the only ones who cared for me when I was alone. For that I’m thankful. If it weren’t for them I don’t know where’d I be.”Alice explained as she shoved another spoonful of pudding in her mouth.

Before nightfall, they returned to the house Rick was still recovering in. Alice began to worry. She knew that if Rick didn’t wake up soon, he might die. They decided it would be best to sleep for a bit. Carl had fallen asleep leaning against the couch and Alice slept beside him with her head on his shoulder. Her anxiety got the best of her and she didn’t want to leave Carl alone.

Carl woke up and it was now dark outside. Moonlight shined through the window on Carl and Alice. He looked over at Alice,

          _“She’s so cute when she sleeps.”_ He smiled at the thought. He brushed a strand of hair from her face before, glancing at his father, who still hadn’t woken up. This had frightened and worried him a little. It had been days since he had fallen asleep and he didn’t wake up that meant he’s dead.

He saw Rick’s hand twitch to his relieve. However, his relieve soon turned into panic when he heard him groan like a walker. His first instinct was to get away but, he remembered Alice. He frantically shook her awake.

Alice woke to Carl shaking her like a ragdoll. “Carl, what is it?” she asked groggily. He pointed his head toward Rick and Alice sobered up real quick when she heard him make the sounds of a walker. They scooted away from the couch to the point of facing it. All they could see was an outline of, what they assumed was walker Rick.

Panting out of alarm, Carl whipped out his gun and pointed at once was his father. Alice let a few tears that she had been holding in, slip as she watched the two. She knows what it’s like to lose people you care about from a father to a friend. She didn’t want Carl to go through that pain. She wouldn’t even wish it upon any enemy of hers. Both jumped out of their deep thoughts as Rick fell to the floor.

Turned Rick reached out his bandaged up hand to them. That’s when Carl wept over his deceased father.When Rick grabbed his foot, that’s when he lost the will to hold the gun at him anymore. He started mumbling about his regrets to Rick. Alice looked at Carl then Rick, she knew what had to be done. It wouldn’t be the first time she’s had to take out a family member for someone else. She reached for her machete but, after Carl said just do it, a voice they thought they would never hear from again cut through the air.

“Carl! Alice!” Rick rasped.

Both looked back at him in disbelief, who had not turned like they previously thought.

“Don’t go outside. Stay safe.” He wheezed then fell over between them with a thud. Finally, Rick fell back into a slumber. Carl crawled over to him and held his head in his lap with his hands. After a moment of staring at him,

“I’m scared.” He whimpered. He would repeat this over and over, not for Rick to hear, not for Alice not, but, for himself to hear.

Then, he cried as he laid his forehead on his father’s. Alice crawled over to the side of him not really sure as to what to do. She never really knew what to do in these type of situations. When Irina was going through her things, she would kind of leave her alone. Of course, she brought food for her but, she didn’t really comfort her because she didn’t know how.

Finally, she remembered something that Jenny did for her when she was upset about her father. She stretched her arm over behind Carl. She placed her hand on his back and rubbed up and down. Then, Carl remembered Alice being there but, didn’t react. It actually felt comforting which he hadn’t felt internally in a long time.

The next morning, Rick was sitting down on the couch with the children, scolding them for going outside. The swelling on his face from his fight with the Governor had died down and only a little bruising was left.

“You two shouldn’t have risked it, going out there like that. It’s dangerous” Rick stated. There was a silence before Carl and Alice said at the same time,

“We were careful.”

The two looked at each other, they didn’t know whether to laugh or not, considering the situation, the opted out of it. Another short pause occurred before,

“Well, it’s good that you found more food.”Rick scoffed.

“We found even more,” Carl started. “But, we ate it.”

 _“Oh, he’s talking about the pudding!”_ Alice realized. She refrained from laughing at this.

Rick looked down and pondered what could they have eaten before looking back Carl,

“What was it?” He asked the children.

“112 ounces of pudding,” Carl replied, innocently smiling whiling peering at his father. Alice slightly giggled at the memory they had shared over the delicious treat. Rick grinned ear to ear as he shook his head. It disappeared when he understood where they really were and how it must have affected the two.

“I know we'll never get things back to the way they used to be,” Rick told them.

“What?” Carl asked.

“ I only clung to that for you ,"Rick spoke, directing his speech more toward Carl than Alice now. "For Judith. Now she's gone.” Rick paused, swallowing the lump in his throat. “You're a man, Carl. You're a man. I'm sorry.” He apologized.

“You don't need to be,” Carl answered. Rick took the silence as a time to drink water while Alice smiled, knowing that Carl’s little anger phase was over.

After awhile, they heard a pounding on the door. All of them jumped when it happened. Alice noticed it hadn’t sounded like walkers when they slammed the door nor did groaning come with it. Everyone grabbed their weapons, ready for who or what it was. Rick looked through the peephole while Carl cocked his gun. Alice was behind Carl with her machete.

Then, Rick did something that made Alice and Carl frown their eyebrows, he leaned against the door then, slumped down to the couch, laughing.

 _“what the fuck?”_ Alice thought.

          “What?” Carl asked, wanting to know just what was happening.

            “It's for you,”Rick smiled.


	25. Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

_**Meanwhile…** _

Irina didn’t know how long they had been running for. All she knows is that she, Daryl, and Beth are running from walkers in a forest with brown dead leaves covering the floor. That and her button up blue shirt was drenched in sweat as much as her forehead so it must’ve been awhile. She tied the jacket around her waist a long time ago due to it getting to hot to wear while running. Her boots were rubbing against her skin. Most likely causing a heat rash

Beth’s more out dark blue tank top was covered in filth and sweat. The light green tank top looked surprisingly clean. Her azure jeans were now a blueish gray color. Daryl on the other hand, appeared pretty much like his average self if he had run a marathon.

          Finally, the trio reached a clearing with even more walkers. Irina had two weapons to use, her tomahawk was strapped to her side and the sniper rifle she had when the prison fell, she was carrying on her hands. She tried to use it for up close shooting encounters but, it was no use. Nevertheless, she found that it does make a good substitute for a bat.

          She swung the long gun up to a male walker, knocking it to ground. She hadn’t noticed female walker behind her until groaned. She tried to swing in time but, Daryl’s arrow beat her to the punch.

          She swung the weapon to the front to herself making contact with something. She didn’t really pay attention to what it was. After that, she heard gunfire and turned to the source of it. She found that Beth was having some trouble killing one walker. Nevertheless, Daryl was in for the save once again with his arrows. Which he collected after, Beth ran away from the clearing with Irina following after her.

          Then, they stumbled upon a light green tall shrubbed covered field. They dove into it, not caring how the small leaves and branches scraped against their skin. Finally, after god knows how many hours of running, the trio crash into the ground and laid there. Daryl was on his back to the right of Beth,who was also on her back while Irina was on the blonde’s left on her stomach. All of them, begging for oxygen to be present within their lungs like it had been before and their vision to be as clear as the sky on a cloudless day. They could make out blurs of black circling in the sky above them.

Eventually, they had caught some oxygen to stable themselves back on their feet. Legs still sore, the trio staggered into the opposite side of the woods. There, they set up camp and built a fire. They found some logs nearby to put near the fire and sit on. Beth sat in front of the fire on the other log, Irina was placed by Daryl on his right while, his crossbow was to his left. Irina’s weapon was off to the other side for her.

          She sat by Daryl mostly because he made her feel comfortable. That and it was Alice’s father, she could trust him.

          They stared into the fire as a dark cloud of silence hovered above their heads. During this silence, Irina had thought about Alice, Noemi, Glenn, and the rest of the group. She had faith that Alice and Noemi made it out alive just fine because, she knew Alice wouldn’t leave her little sister behind and if she did, it wouldn’t have been intentional. However, what about her brother and everyone that she had grown to like back at the prison? Did they make it?

          She gazed to her left at Daryl, who looked in dismay as he glared at the ember flames. Her eyebrows frowned in sympathy, she knew he was thinking about the group as well as his daughter. Before she could continue with her thoughts, she heard Beth say quietly,

          “We should do something.”

          Daryl moved his gaze up through this brownish bangs to look at the blonde hair teen. He didn’t say anything in response.

          “And do what? It’s dark out! We should wait until morning.” Irina reasoned, shuttering at the memory of what happened last time she went out at night. She didn’t anything like what happened to Jenny to occur again.

          “Well, we can’t just sit here and nothing!” Beth argued. “We aren’t the only survivors. We can’t be.”she articulated. She paused as there could be a reaction for other two but, she got nothing in return. “Rick, Michonne, they have to be out here. Maggie and Glenn could’ve made it out of A block. They could’ve!”

          Daryl looked off to the side, not really believing anyone made it out alive, not even his daughter. He cursed himself a thousand times already for losing his daughter again. What he would give to have her in his arms right now. It was painful to lose her the first time but, a second time was like opening a stitched up wound with clever without any medical expertise.

          He was so lost in his inner loathing, he hadn’t noticed Beth was still speaking until she said,

“Alice probably made it out with Noemi and Carl.”

He wanted to say something, to lash out at her or something to make her stupid mouth shut up. She wasn’t helping! If anything she rubbing salt into the wound! However, he didn’t do anything. Instead, he just looked back to the fire,trying to shut her out.

          Irina noticed something in Daryl’s eyes before he turned back to watch the fire, that she thought was impossible for the Dixons to show. She saw pain swell up in his blueish-green eyes. Frustration at the Greene girl grew inside of her. How could she not see that he was grieving for everyone back at the prison and his daughter? Irina knew she was just trying to stay positive but, it’s not doing any good right now!

          “You’re a tracker. You can track!”Beth realized, forming a plan in her head. “Come on. The sun will be up soon. If we head out now, we can-”  she trailed off as she didn’t get a reaction from Daryl.  “Fine! If you won’t track, we will! Come on, Irina!” She hollered then, turned to stomp away. However, she noticed that Irina wasn’t following her. She turned around,

“Irina?” She asked.

          Irina sighed as she stood up. She replied tiredly, “Beth, knock it off and get back here, it’s not safe at night. All of us had a long day and are really tired. We need a break.”

          “There is no time for a break! We need to find the others before it’s too late! Don’t you want to find Noemi? Or even Alice? Before, it gets to that point?!”Beth gawked.

          Irina clenched her teeth in her mouth, “Yes, I do but, it’s too dangerous for us to be out at night!”she debated in a growl. Daryl drew his attention to the two girls, still not making a sound. He wanted to intervene but,he also wanted to see how things played out. He promised himself that if things got out of hand or walker showed up, he’d put a stop to it.

          “But, It’ll be sun up soon!” Beth hissed.

          “ Doesn’t fucking matter! It’s still dark and that means more walkers are out!” Irina discussed.

          “Why are you so afraid of  being out at night? I know it’s not the walkers!”Beth asked.

Daryl glanced at Irina, whose hands were balling into fists. If he remembered correctly from what Alice told him, Glenn’s sister had died because the Governor's lackeys were fucking stupid enough to make noise and left Irina and her in the line of fire when they were on a run. He also remembered her saying something about realizing that it wasn’t her fault but, the Governors. Which made him wonder if she was afraid that it might happen to one of them?

          “You want to know what my problem is with the damn night?” Irina growled to point where it almost made Daryl flinch.If he didn’t know any better, he’d think Alice was talking without an accent.

          “My sister, Jenny! You know, the one who fucking died because I decided to do something damn foolish as go out at night! The minute you walk away to track, he,” Irina ranted. She pointed to Daryl as she said he. “ will come looking for you and guess what might happen? A walker might take him by surprise! Do you want that to happen?” she asked.

          “No! Of course not but, sometimes you have to take risks ! You can’t just go in the day time like you did before! Things are different now!” Beth answered.

          Irina’s blood was boiling to the point where her cheek was a tomato red.  She hadn’t even listened to Beth after she basically said to get over it.

          “So are you coming or not?” Beth asked.

          Irina cocked her head to the side and looked at her as if she was the most stupid person she had ever met, “ No. I’m not!” she hissed. Then, she stomped back to her seat. She folded her arms across her chest and a leg over her knee.

          Speechless, Daryl gawked at Irina. He knew she had said ‘no, I’m not’ however, the tone of voice and the way she said, it was clearly a 'fuck you' statement. He might’ve thought of that kind of behavior from Alice though, he had hoped not. He honestly didn’t think Irina was that type.

          “Fine! If neither of you will help me, I’ll do it myself!” Beth barked as she went over to her knife she stuck in the ground out and stormed away. Irina rolled her eyes as she bounced her bent leg on her knee.

          _“She’s being fucking stupid.”_ Irina thought.

           Not even a few minutes pass, Irina had already begun to worry for the blonde’s safety. Sure she was mad but she didn’t hate her enough to want her dead. She glimpsed at Daryl, who had started to fret over Beth’s safety as well. Daryl let out a sigh as got up. He kicked the dirt over the fire to put it out. Then he got his crossbow and, went off to find Beth! Before Irina followed her best friend’s father, she grabbed her sniper rifle.

Eventually, when it was daytime, the duo caught up with Beth. The three hadn’t spoken to each other. Irina was off to the left with Beth while, Daryl was on the far right looking down to the ground for tracks.

          “What was it?” Beth asked Irina.

          Irina drew her attention to the blonde in confusion, “ What?’ she asked.

          “What was it? That you were trying to get your sister?” Beth clarified.

          “Oh,”she trailed off. “A scrapbook. She was running out of room in her old one.”She explained. She hoped that something would happen so she could get out of this conversation.

          “I’m sorry. I-”Beth apologized but, was quickly cut off when she noticed Daryl was knelt on the ground, hovering over a spot on the Earth shuffling some branches, leaves and dirt aside. Beth went over to him with Irina following her. Irina swatted down while Beth bent over. The trio saw footprints on the ground.

          The three stared at for some time before, Beth spoke,

          “Could be Luke's. Or Molly's. Whoever they are, it means they're alive.”

          _“No,if anything they were alive a few hours ago.”_ Irina reasoned mentally. She knew this because Alice had taught her a thing or two about tracking on the way back to the hotel after taking the Governor's weapons.

          “No. This means they were alive four or five hours ago.” Daryl clarified as she traced the tracks up and down with his eyes. Beth looked over at Daryl, annoyed by his lack of hope.

          “They’re alive!” She barked then stormed off ahead again to trail the tracks.

Irina looked in Beth general direction, pondering on how could she be so full of hope? Sure, she was in a way but, she could also see why Daryl was acting the way he was. With one motion, Daryl got up and followed the blonde. Irina let out a sigh as she rose up as well.

          The footprints led down a dirt path passed two huge bushes. Immediately, Daryl looked off to the side and noticed something different about the tracks. Irina went over to Daryl to see what he was looking at. Irina couldn’t help but, noticed that the footprints looked as if someone ran compared to other ones they just saw. Irina bit her lip,

                   _“That can’t be good.”_ Irina thought grimly.

“They picked up the pace right here,” Daryl explained. “Got out in a hurry.” As he said this, he made his way over to Beth.

          “Wouldn’t kill you to have a little faith!”She sighed a hiss before she tried to  march away.

          To this, Irina shook her head, “Why can’t she just drop things?” she wondered.

          “Yeah, faith. Faith ain't done shit for us.” Daryl called off his shoulder. Beth stopped to listen to his words. “ Sure as hell didn't do nothing for your father.” He scoffed That’s when Beth just about had it.

          She turned around and was about to say something. However, Irina had intervened. She got in between them, not because she was afraid that they would hurt each other. Daryl didn’t seem them the type to hit a girl.

          “Alright! That’s enough! Both of you! Being mad at each other because someone does have faith or not is getting us nowhere!” Irina declared. Next, she turned to Beth, her ponytail swished side to side as she did this. “Beth, I understand where you’re coming from with the whole , ‘have faith’ thing but, you have to cut him some slack! I mean he just lost his daughter not once but, fucking twice! I don’t know about you but, I do know your father would grief over you If he was in Mr., Dixon's shoes!”she told Beth. Next, she turned to her best friend’s father.

          “Mr. Dixon, I understand you believe everyone is dead and that’s fine. Just know, not everyone is going to think that too. The way I look at it is that if there’s nobody, then they aren’t dead.” She explained.

Then , she got out from between them. She slowly wandered around the grassy area.  Then she looked back to see Daryl handing Beth his black and white handkerchief. She smiled upon this as she continued her close by wandering. Soon, she heard footsteps crunching behind her. She grinned more when Daryl walked past her.

The blonde and the dark hair girls followed after the redneck up a trail that led to two walkers on the forest floor. One was a female with dishwater blonde hair dressed in a dirty blue dress with a small beige cover over it. The other one was a darker male with filthy beige polo with brown jeans and brown converse boots.

Out of the corner of his eye, Daryl spotted some blood on leaves not too far from the walkers. When Daryl went over them to inspect it, Irina shadowed behind him. She glanced at the thick red liquid then, back at the walkers. She bit her lip as she mentally apologized to Beth.

          Daryl grabbed one of the leaves to get a closer look then sighed.Beth’s green eyes turned their attention to him,

“What?” she asked.

“That ain't walker blood,” Daryl said grimly. Beth, not wanting to believe the people didn’t make it, hiked over walkers as she stated that they had fought them off.

          “Beth,” Irina whispered, not so sure on what to say. She didn’t want to break her faith but, it was clear that the people didn’t make it.

“ No.”Daryl claimed calmly. “ Got walker tracks all up and down here.”He pointed to the footprints. He ambled back down the path with Irina after he said, “At least a dozen of them.”

          Beth moved for a split-second until she heard something snapping. Everyone halted in their tracks. Irina thought she faintly heard someone’s feet crushing leaves. Before any of them know it, a walker popped out of nowhere. The walker snarled as it grabbed onto the first person it could reach which was Beth. She squirmed and wept as the walker tried to bite her.

  At once, Irina drew up her sniper into position. Her chocolate eyes gazed through the scope. She strained for a spot aim, however, both the walker and Beth kept moving. Before she could get frustrated enough, she something heavy clunk in the leaves. She glanced over to Daryl, who had done the same as her with his crossbow.He just got frustrated faster and threw his crossbow down. He rushed in and did something that Irina didn’t think was possible considering walkers eat anything that is alive. Daryl gripped the walker by the shirt and yanked it off of Beth. They both tumbled to the ground until Daryl pinned it to the ground. The walker fidgeted and growled at him.

After Irina reached for her tomahawk, Beth grabbed her knife. Daryl took note of this out of the corner of his eye. He flipped himself on his back with the walker on top of him. Beth jabbed her knife into the walkers' head with one motion. The walker halted their squirming and Daryl pushed it off of him. Quickly, he scooted away.

Irina bounded up to him, “Are you okay Mr. Dixon?” She tried to help him back to his feet but, he waved her off. He told her that he was fine before getting on his feet. He panted as he went over to grab his crossbow. Then, he rushed passed them, telling them to come on. 

Soon the three stumble upon a ditch with a railroad smack dab in the middle of it. On the side of that railroad were three walkers gnawing on the meat of what once were five humans.

     All of them were sickened by the sight. Irina could tell Daryl was more angered than sickened. She watched as he put an arrow in each of the walkers head. Strangely enough, he had to go up to one because he was so busy eating that he hadn’t noticed the noise of eating something hadn’t echoed. Afterward, he gathered his arrows and walked ahead.

Irina’s attention drew to Beth, who was gawking in sadness at the bloody black shoe. She didn’t really quite get why Beth was doing this.

 _“Unless, it might have been someone’s shoe back at the prison.”_ She rationalized to herself.

Then, Beth began to cry over the ones they had been tracking this morning. Daryl turned around at the sound of her weeping. He honestly felt a bit of pity for the girl but, he was never good at emotion so, he went back to walking. However, about half way he stopped again when he realized the girls weren’t following him and Beth was still crying. The fact he didn’t know what to do bothered him. He was a father for god sake! How could he not know how to comfort a little girl?

 On the other hand, Irina walked over on pure instinct and hugged Beth. Beth wrapped her arms around the smaller girl. Irina felt bad for her getting her hopes up. She had done the same but, not to the extent of Beth.

“I’m sorry Beth but, at least we tried.” She reasoned. She heard the sweet blonde reply.

They stayed like this for about a minute or two until Beth pulled out of the embrace. She whipped the oncoming tears to clear her face but, it didn’t help much.

“Yeah, it’s better to try than not try at all.” She whimpered through a smile.

“ we have to keep moving. It’s not safe out here.” Irina hesitatingly whispered.

After this, the three found an area and built a fire. The sparks from the bright orange flames lit up the royal sky that was sprinkled with the glitter of the moon. Beth fueled the fires crave by tearing some pages from her small journal and tossed them into it.

_***_

          Back the abandoned prison, Irina’s sister, Noemi, had managed to get herself in a bit of a pickle. When the prison fell, she and Glenn managed to get on some debris that had two closed off cells with a bridge connected to it. However, before they could cross it, rubble from one of the prison buildings, hit Glenn on the side of the head, knocking him out cold.  

          Noemi ran to his side however she was uncertain of what to do. Suddenly, she saw some movement toward them out of the corner of her eyes. Her eyes were as big as saucers as she saw a rock that she swears could have come from a mountain. Thinking quickly, she dragged her surprisingly heavy brother back before, the large stone crashed on the bridge. The bridge crumbled into two pieces with a pile of rocks gathering beneath it. Walkers gathered to the rocks when they heard the noise.

          Noemi panted as she dropped Glenn. Then, she knelt down to the side of him a shook his arm.

          “Glenn!” Noemi wailed.  Nothing happened, she tried again. “Glenn!” Noemi shrieked. Her brown eyes swell up with water until she remembered that Hershel usually checked for her heartbeat by placing his fingers on her wrist. She had asked him what he was doing and he explained he had been checking for her heartbeat. This confused her. She hadn’t been taught about a pulse. Hershel explained that the heart had arteries or veins that led to the neck and wrist. There, the rhythm of the heart beating.

          Rapidly, she placed her fingers on the under her brother’s jaw. She felt something jump up from under his skin. She raised an eyebrow at this, wondering if this was the pulse thing that Hershel was talking about.She decided to go with that and calmed down. She sat crisscrossed by her brother, waiting for him to wake up so, they could make their next move.

          Her stomach let out a sharp growl which, had packed a bite to go along with it as it had hurt her stomach. She brought her left hand over to her stomach. Then, she glanced over at her older brother. Her teeth sank into her lower lip and her eyebrows frowned in puzzlement. She knew she couldn’t just leave him there but, she also knew she had to eat something. She pulled out her gun and her eyes shifted from it to Glenn. Next, she put it beside him just within his reach. After this, she jumped up then dusting the dirt off of her being. Before she left Glenn, she murmured,

                   “Don’t worry, Glenn. I’ll be back soon.”


	26. Chapter Twenty Five (Full)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! I did it! I finished the chapter! Sorry, it's late!

Chapter Twenty-Five

 

          Noemi crept through the dark hallway quietly as she pushed down the clawing feeling of guilt. If she was to get food from the kitchen and back to Glenn, she needed to concentrate. She wiped her knife out in case a walker jumped out of nowhere like they always do.

          She pushed open the gate when she reached it. The ambiance was deafeningly quiet much Noemi’s discomfort. Her shoulders crunched up as she trudged through the empty area. A cough inching it’s way out of her body reminded her that she needed to extra careful. Even though Hershel gave her the medicine, she still wasn’t fully healed from being sick. Nevertheless, she swallowed it back downward, refusing to make any noise.

          She passed down the stairs to the main door of the dilapidating building. She made a mistake by opening that door. A horde of walkers was right behind it. Another mistake of hers was that she let out a squeak of her scream. The walkers slowly turned and lunged in her direction.

She quickly shut the door on them with all the force she had. The dark haired little girl dropped her knife in the process. The walkers ambled into the door with the force as well. Noemi heard them growling and clawing at the door as she struggled to keep the door closed.

          Just when she thought it was over for her, She heard gunfire behind her. After a minute or two, it was silent again. She wondered who had just saved her from being an appetizer for the undead? She slowly jumped back from the door. She stared at it for the longest of time before, she picked up her knife. She was hesitant to open the door.

          The door pushed back as she tried lightly pushing the door open. She tried again but, with more force this time. Three pushes later, the door crept across the outside pavement. A heap of walkers laid on the ground dead. She looked up to try and find the person so she could thank them. However, her eye contact met with another walker. This time, she did not let out a scream, however.

          Noemi swiftly dodged out of the walkers way. As she ran, she began to regret leaving her gun instead of her knife. The sound of a gunshot rang in her ears. She looked over to the direction it came from, not caring about the walker that fell to the ground by her. Finally, she spotted a woman sitting in a small fenced off courtyard with a slab of concrete for its ground. Noemi’s mind was blown away by the resemblance the lady had to Jenny. She wore a faded green flannel over her gray T-shirt. Noemi could tell it said something but, the sun was reflecting off of it so, she couldn’t tell. Her hair was the color of a chocolate walnut pulled back into a wimpy bun. Her peach skin was coated in ash and soot, making it have an olive tint to it. Her brown eyes met hers sternly and full pink lips were in a firm line until she shouted,

          “Well, don’t just stand there! Get over here! I’ll cover you!”

          Instantly, Noemi ran toward the blocked off area the mysterious woman was in. Anxiety choked her lungs whenever she heard walkers growl behind her. Relief sparked within her as she heard the gunfire kill the ambling dead. Remembering something out of a movie when she arrived at the fence, she jumped on it and climbed up it like a spider monkey. Finally, she got to the top however, she made the mistake of jumping down instead of climbing.

          Pain nipped at her ankle as it barely kissed the ground. She yelped as she tumbled to the concrete beside the woman. Her ears faintly heard walker moans and the metal fence shaking. Next, she rolled onto her back to grab her ankle. She had never experienced this pain before.

          “Ahh! Fuck! Shit!” She hissed.

          “That’s some strong language ya got there.” She heard the woman chuckle.

          She was reminded that the older girl had been there but, she didn’t really care at the moment. The pain was more important. Before, she could think that her foot was officially broken.

          “Alright, let me see it.” The woman said.

Noemi looked up, the woman was now crouched in front of her.  “When did she get there?” she wondered. Noemi followed her orders which, were to scoot back and lean against the dresser. She jerked her leg closer to her body when the lady had tried to grab it.

          “What are you doing?” She asked nervously.

          “Relax! I’m just checking to see if it’s broken or not.” The stranger replied.

After, Noemi let the girl grab her ankle gently. She watched the stranger softly take off her shoe and lightly squeezed around the ankle. She would flinch when she did this and the older of the two apologized. Finally, the woman came to a conclusion.

          “Nothing’s broken. It’s just a sprain.”

          “R-really?” Noemi asked . She thought for sure it was broken. It felt like it was. During this, she observed the woman use her knife to tear off a piece of her clothing. She wrapped it around Noemi’s ankle and tied it off.

“But it hurts like hell!” Noemi muttered to herself.

The woman laughed,“Yeah, and it's going to be like that for awhile.”

          A twinge of regret crawled in Noemi’s stomach. She knew she wasn't supposed to cuss in front of adults. One time, she did in front of Glenn and Maggie and it didn’t end well. She didn’t get into too much trouble but, it did lead to a conversation about who she could swear to and why. To put it short, she was given a rule that it was fine to swear as long as it was around her friends and not adults. However, this time, was different, her ankle was sprained! Of course, something was bound to come out of her mouth!

          Silence had issued the air for a short while before the stranger realized something. She forgot to introduce herself.

      “I’m Tara by the way,” she smiled.

Noemi returned her gaze to the woman newly labeled as Tara. Despite her pain, she smiled softly,

          “My name’s Noemi!” She piped.

      “That’s a pretty name,” Tara grinned.

          “Thank you!” Noemi chirped. She hadn’t received a compliment like that since before the apocalypse.

       “You’re welcome,” Tara responded.

Tara looked over to the crumbled prison. Guilt swarmed over her head like bees to honey. To think she was a part of the Governor's charade was tearing her apart. She just helped destroyed a home once filled with living breathing people!Now, they all were probably dead and it was partially her fault!

          “Hey you okay?” she heard Noemi ask.

Her eyes widen as she realized that Noemi had come from the prison. Which means one of two things. She’s either a scavenger that just happened to stumble upon the prison or she was from there. If she was from there, she most likely had no one else to help her through all this. The latter made her feel even more guilt-ridden

. If this were true, then she would have no choice but, to get the girl out of here. There was no way she was going to leave an eight-year-old girl to die in this destroyed prison! She might let herself get eaten by biters due to guilt but, she’d be damned if  she’ll let a little girl die like that! She glanced to the prison once more than Noemi.

        “Noemi? Did you live here?” Tara asked.

          “ _Mmph_! With my big brother,sister, Alice, and the rest!”She piped.

Before Tara could react, Noemi gasped as she remembered her mission from earlier. “Oh shit! I gotta get back to Glenn! He’s still in there!” she yelped aloud, completely forgetting she talking to an adult. She jumped up and started to make her way to the fence. Tara was about to stop her before the little Korean girl could hurt herself however, it was too late. Noemi plopped back down with a hiss.

“Are you alright?” Tara asked.

Noemi spun her head to the older, “Y-yeah I’m fine.”she grunted.

“You need to be more careful!” Tara scolded.

“Sorry.” Noemi apologized.

After Tara checked to see if the sprain had gotten worse, which it hadn’t. She inquired to the younger, hoping the little girl would finish her sentence.

“Glenn would be your…?”

      “My big brother,”Noemi replied. "He got knocked out by some rocks that were flying everywhere yesterday. I didn’t eat or sleep at all last night because I wanted to make sure he was okay.” She clarified sincerely.  She then goes on about her mission up to how she and Tara met. “Thanks for everything, Tara, but If Glenn wakes up and I'm gone, he’ll lose his mind trying to look for me and nobody wants that!" She giggled, slightly. “I gotta hobble my crippled butt back faster than he can get up. Then I've gotta explain said crippled butt!”

     Tara was going to object to her actions. Tell her that, she couldn’t even walk earlier so, how was she suppose to climb a fence? However, the sound of walkers turning away from them and the sound of someone screeching. Soon they saw someone rushing away dressed in S.WA.T. armor and an orange backpack strapped to his back.

      Noami already knew who it was. Who else could it be? She and Glenn were the only ones left in the prison. She was appreciative that her brother was indeed well. She tried to stand, forgetting about her foot. It hurt but, she remembered that most people with a hurt foot lifted it in the air while walking on the other. She wobbled a bit while doing that at first but, quickly regained her balance.

      She started to shout her brother’s name to get his attention, activating her coughs from her previous illness. Tara took note of her coughs as well as her now more apparent recovery. She also noted that she was sweating and she knows it wasn’t from the running earlier. She hadn’t even run that far of a distance to cause that amount of sweat.

      When Glenn heard his little sister’s squeaky voice, his head jumped up. A relieved smile made it’s way to his lips when he saw that she was alright. Without a second thought, he rushed over there, stabbing a walker in the head before opening the gate.This action caused  Noemi’s jaw to hang open slightly in disbelief and dread. Suddenly, her sprained ankle seemed pretty stupid to have. _“There was a gate that I could’ve used? Are you kidding me?”_ she thought. The clanking of the metal of the gate jumped Noemi back to reality.

      Her feeling was quickly wiped away when Glenn went over to her and hugged her. She could feel his hand brushing the hair that wasn’t tied up into ponytails. That’s when she noticed his helmet was no longer on his head but, on the floor.

“Thank God, you’re okay!” Glenn sighed.

Then, Glenn remembered that Noemi had run off while he was out cold and released her from his embrace.

“Why didn’t you wait for me? And how did you survive that herd?” Glenn asked.

“I-I didn’t want to leave you there but, I was hungry. I hadn’t eaten in a day.” Noemi explained. “And Tara helped me.”

“Tara?” Glenn questioned.

Noemi pointed to the other adult near them. Glenn looked over to where she was pointing. He blinked at the girl  as she gave him a small wave.

“O-oh um hi.” He stuttered, slightly embarrassed that he hadn’t noticed her up until that point. “I’m Glenn,”

Tara giggled through a smirk, “Yeah, I figured that! You’re little sister’s told me a lot about you. How are you feeling?” she asked.

“Feeling?” Glenn asked, glancing at his sister with a raised eyebrow. _“What did she tell her?”_ he wondered.

“Yeah. She told me, you recently got hit in the head with some debris. You’re lucky you didn’t fall into a coma.” She explained.

Suddenly, it became clear to Glenn what Tara had been talking about. “Oh, that! Yeah, I’m fine.” He replied. Then, he remembered where they were and knew what to do next.

“Let’s go. We have to get out of here.”  He ordered as he made his way to the gate. He grabbed his helmet and placed it on his head before heading out.

“Um…about that,” Tara began, she hoped to have stopped Noemi’s older brother. “ We can’t.”

Glenn stopped, “Huh? Why?”

It was Noemi’s turn to speak, “ I hurt my ankle.” She replied. She shifted her foot so Glenn could see it. Glenn rushed over there in an instant.

“What! How?” Glenn asked.

Noemi had explained the story from her getting hungry to her meeting Tara. Glenn was silent for a minute before he inquired,

“You do know there was a door you could’ve used, right?”

Glenn was quickly cut off when his little sister snapped at him,

“I didn’t see the door there. I only saw a person and a gate.” She huffed.

Glenn responded with a chuckle that he couldn’t hold back anymore.

          “Just when I thought it was going be easy getting out of here.” He stated parastichy. He shook his head side to side as he said this, Then, he goes over to her a tries to pick her up, however, his previous illness reminded him he was still too fragile to do such. He placed her back down and continued to hack his lungs out away from the other two girls.

         Noemi frowned upon this, she wanted to reach out to him but, that required her to stand. Instead, she asked if he was alright and he responded that he was. However, Noemi wasn’t so convinced by the coughs in between his answer.

“How about I carry her?” Tara suggested.

Glenn looked over to her, “I’ll carry her while you shoot at the biters. You’re too sick to carry her and she’s too injured to walk. I can do it.”Tara explained the plan.

      Glenn thought about it over, Tara did have a good plan but, he needed something to distract the walkers as they get away, he has a cocktail for that, and someone to cover him. If Tara was going to carry Noemi, who was going to cover his back. That’s when he remembered Noemi knew how to shoot. It maybe a bit of a stretch to let her do it but, It’s better than no cover at all.

“Okay but, I have a plan that can work with yours.”  He smiled.

      After he explained his plan to Tara, Glenn went to make a cocktail. While, Tara scooped Noemi up bridal style. Noemi shifted her body weight into her so that it was one of less effort on Tara’s part. Glenn handed Noemi back her gun that she had left with him.

“Use this sparingly. We’re going to run out of bullets.” He told Noemi.

Noemi replied with an okay before she checked the magazine. She noticed that there weren’t enough bullets to kill all of the walkers out there. How were they suppose to get by if they only had so few bullets? That’s when it clicked to Noemi that sparingly meant saving some. _“Okay so, I have to choose which walkers to shoot. Got it.”_ She thought. With that, she snapped the magazine back into the black pistol.

            After Glenn instructed the girls to back up, to which they did, he lit the white rag on the cocktail, unlatched the gate, kicked it, and tossed the cocktail into the air. Quickly, he shut the gate right after the bottle crashed on a dull navy blue car. Amber flames swallowing the hood of the car. The walkers draw their attention to the orange lights and crackle of the fire.

           Next, Glenn tells Tara that he needed her to stay ahead of him and that he would try to cover as much as he could. After that, Glenn opened the door of the gate and ordered Tara to go. Tara rushed out with Noemi in her arms. Noemi’s anxiety for her legs as they cut through the dead crowd made her cringe a little. Nevertheless, Noemi was confident as she shot walkers along the way out of the Prison.

          Finally, the trio came up to a road after running for hours on end. The road was empty and burning from the Apollo’s flashlight shining on it for so long. There was also a car covered in black soot and ash.

“Did you see any if any of my people got out?” Glenn asked after a series of breaths.

         “All I saw was my sister laying dead in the field.” Tara huffed. Noemi looked up at Tara when she said this. Sympathy made it’s way to her heart as Tara began pouring her heart out to Glenn. She knew what it was like losing a sister. Then it hit her like a truck, her other sister and Alice weren’t there when they got out.

        Which could mean millions of things but, the death reason seemed more opening to the mind. She felt like crying, she didn’t want to lose another family member! She already lost her parents and Jenny! However, when she looked around her, at the two adults, she couldn’t bring herself to cry. The lump in her throat was quickly swallowed back down in her stomach.She yawned to make the droplets of water look like it was from a lack of sleep rather that of sadness.

        This confused her, why did she cover up her sadness? Why didn’t she want them to see? She cried in front of Glenn and her family multiple times when she was younger, what’s so different now? So many questions and yet no answers.

“-and then he just killed that old man.”Tara whimpered.

Noemi glanced back up at Tara, she wondered if she was talking about Hershel. That was the only old man she had seen die that day but, that would mean Tara would have had to of been with the Governor, right? Judging by the way Tara was talking and her story. However, Noemi could tell she sounded remorseful about it. _“Maybe she was tricked into doing it?”_ She wondered.

“Hershel?” Glenn stated.

Tara stopped in her tracks, staring at the forest in front of her.

“Was his name Hershel?” he asked.

Tara tried everything in her power not to cry right then and there. It failed miserably.

Tara turned around to face Glenn, “I’m sorry.” She sobbed, her lips trembled a bit after. “So sorry.” The realization hit Glenn like a monster bus. “Brain…he told us you were bad people.”

This boiled Noemi’s blood to the roof, _“Fucking Asshole! He’s the one that caused multiple people to die and we’re the bad guys?”_ Noemi thought.

 “I know it’s not true.” Tara went on. “I can see it’s not so, w-wha-what we did…what I did…I-I mean I’m a piece of shit. Why would you want my help?”

       Tara turned to walk away, forgetting that she was carrying Noemi. Noemi leaned more into Tara to show her support for her. Tara looked down at her and blinked the tears away. Noemi offered a small quick smile, hoping it would make Tara happy. Suddenly, she realized that she didn’t like seeing Tara sad.It got a tiny smile out of Tara but, soon after she went back to being sad.

“I don’t want it, I need it.” Glenn corrected her.

Tara’s head jumped up after he said this.

“I have to... for Maggie and Irina.” Glenn explained.

Tara turned around, Noemi glanced skyward at Tara with frowning eyebrows and compassionate eyes.

“Who are they?” Tara asked dreadfully.

“Irina’s my little sister and Maggie’s my wife,” Glenn clarified.

Tara looked down at Noemi then back at the Korean after he declared this, “I thought she was your little sister?” she stated confusingly.

“I have three sisters. One of them is dead, the other is missing and that one is the youngest.” Glenn simplified. He tilted his head toward Noemi at the last part.

Tara remained silent before she questioned,  “You got separated?”

“I got off the bus to find Noemi and Maggie's sister, Beth. Maggie didn’t see us get out of the prison.”He explained.

“How do you know she made it?” Tara asked. She took two steps toward him.

 _“Because, she’s strong.”_ Noemi pondered.

        Glenn shook his head quickly,  “ I don’t know.” He paused for a minute, looked at Noemi and at Tara.  “But, Hershel..” he trailed off walking forward, stopping in front of the two girls. “Maggie’s father was a great man. And he said all I have to do is believe.” He shrugged, “And that’s what I’m going to do.” He nodded at his own statement.“Neither on-”

        He paused as he remembered Noemi was in Tara’s arms. He thought back to his previous statement. No, if anyone should be alive out of the three of them, it should be her. “You and I, shouldn’t be alive right now.” He stopped his speech for a minute. “They got out so, you’re going to help me find them. Things aren’t over.” Glenn told Tara then, proceeded to walk off.

“I want to believe that!” Tara hollered after him. She turned her body around as he walked away. Glenn halted and rotated to face the other adult. Noemi could tell his face didn’t really buy what Tara was saying. “I want to,” Tara repeated.

After a period of silence fluttering in the Earth’s air, walker groans were heard from the trees. The three raised their heads over to the forest. They saw three walkers trudging up the small hill that led to the road. Automatically, Noemi got her pistol ready for use. Glenn dropped his helmet and took off his orange backpack. He grabbed a knife out of his pack. He marched his way up the herd. On his way, he said to Tara that she had to. He stabbed the first walker he got to in the head. He didn’t notice the male walker, on his right. It almost got him if Noemi hadn’t shot it with perfect aim. She did it again to another walker and Glenn took out the last one.

      Both Glenn and Noemi had forgotten their illness until the moment Glenn started wheezing after handling those walkers. Alarm raced in Noemi’s heart as Tara rushed over to Glenn. “Glenn! Are you okay?” Noemi asked.

        “Y-yeah I-‘m” Glenn lingered off. He drifted back onto the yellow straw covered ground. Tara placed Noemi on the ground beside Glenn. She examined him for a minute. Panic seeped into her when she noticed his eyes were closed. Noemi noticed this too and also panicked. Tara called his name as she shook him. “Check his pulse!” Noemi shouted. Tara barely had any time to react to the little one’s knowledge before a walker grabbed her shoulder. Both girls shrieked at this. Noemi tried to shoot but, she had fallen down on her back from fright.

      By the time she had gotten back up, Tara was basking in the walkers brains in. Not just once to wince like a normal person would but, more than five times. That’s when Noemi noticed a dusty green jeep heading their way. It stopped so, it wouldn’t hit the two. Noemi’s heart raced in more fear and shrunk her head to her shoulders. Something about the jeep seemed intimating. Finally, she got the courage to call for Tara.

  “T-Tara.” She called in a whisper. However, Tara ignored her whimper as she had not heard her over the sound of the butt of the rifle making contact with blood and bone. Also, the sound of her breaking point was clouding her mind.“ T-Tara!” She exclaimed, a bit louder than the last time. Again, Tara ignored the little Korean girl. “Tara!” She cried out.

     “What?!” Tara hollered back in breaths. She faced her, still in the moment of killing the walker. However, that faded away when she took note of the jeep that was now present. Quickly, she got in front of Noemi. She stared at the car for a moment in bewilderment before bewilderment turned into anger.

“Hope you enjoyed the show, Assholes!”  She yelled in between pants.

      After that, three people got out of the vehicle. Two guys and one girl. The girl had tan skin, deep umber hair, and brown eyes. She wore a small blue shirt that reached to the top of her stomach. Wrapped over it was another shirt the color of the clear sky, tied off in the front. Dark green short-shorts with a brown belt completed with two gun holders. Her hair was put in lazy pigtails that laid on her shoulders. In between them rested a tan cap. Her accessories were gold hooped earrings, multiple bracelets on her right wrist and, a large gun in hand.

        One guy was heavier than most people with a black mullet on his head. His skin was pastel and his eyes were a stormy blue. His shirt was a bluish white color or it use to be when it wasn’t covered in sweat and his pants were brown. He held a charcoal walkie-talkie in his hand. Noemi thought he was the least frightening one out of all of them.

        Finally, the ringleader looked like the stereotype Scottish man. Fiery hair , clear blue eyes, and pastel as one could get. He wore a gray tank top and dull dust storm green pants that were tucked into his brown boots. He held a large gun pointed to the sky by his head. Finally, the leader spoke up to them,

      “You got a damn mouth on you, know that? What else you got?” he said the last part with some amusement, but it wasn’t showing on his face.


	27. Chapter Twenty-Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So sorry this is late! I had a vacation to New Orleans then, got side tracked! I have decided to end this book after Terminus but, don't worry! There will be a sequel leading to and during Alexandra!

 

Chapter Twenty-Six

            Noemi sat in the dirt as the trio and Tara had a little dispute. Well, only two of the trio argued while the black haired one remained quiet. Noemi managed to catch the names of the mysterious people before them. The leader was Abraham, the woman was Rosita, and the timid guy was Eugene. Eugene’s behavior made Noemi raise an eyebrow. She’s only seen children have this form of timidity so for an adult to have this behavior confused her.

            During Noemi’s procession of the situation, Tara had made her way over to the little girl. Noemi blinked back into reality when Tara lifted her up off the ground bridal style. Noemi latched her arm around Tara’s neck once again.

            “Can’t she walk?” Noemi heard Abraham say.

Tara twirled back around with a reply, “No, she has a sprained ankle.”

            “When she sprain it?” Abraham asked.

            Tara paused to think for a moment as did Noemi. Noemi looked up at the sun tiredly before quickly looking away. Apparently, the sun was not her friend today. She whipped her head down to avoid the sun’s burning gaze.

            “Uh-I don’t know about an hour ago maybe?” Tara replied. Noemi drew her eyes back up at Tara. Had it been an hour? It seemed like an eternity for the little Korean girl.

            “Rosita, get in the back. The little one’s riding up front.” Abraham ordered.

            “What? You can’t be serious? We just met these people!” Rosita shouted.

            Noemi’s fist clinched into the shoulder of Tara’s shirt. Even though she was a bit anxious, her expression did not dare reveal itself to the strangers. Tara felt obligated to say something however, Abraham barked the same order but, a bit more harshly.

            With that, Rosita did as she was told and sat in the back of the army jeep with a huff and scowl. Noemi was about to be put in the battlewagon by Tara but, she quickly remembered Glenn was still laying on the ground, passed out.

            “Wait! What about Glenn?” Noemi hollered.

           Tara blinked down at her then turned her gaze at Glenn. She was lost at what to do. She could put Noemi in the truck but, that would leave Glenn vulnerable to walkers. Abraham volunteered to put Noemi in the jeep before, Tara went and tried to carry Glenn.

         After that, everything seemed to be a blur for Noemi. Last time she had slept was a day and a half ago. Plus, she was hungry so, it only made her weariness worse. Vague images of her words with Abraham and Eugene about who she was and her age seemed to play in her head as she pressed her tan cheek against the seatbelt. Listening the sound of muffled tires rolling on gravel.

            Noemi knew she shouldn’t feel this safe around strangers but, they appeared to be somewhat sane people so, she felt okay enough to sleep a bit. She had been dreaming of happy times with her, Irina, and Alice when she was awakened by the sound of someone pounding on something. She also thought she heard someone yell in the back of the vehicle as her mouth stretched wide open and released oxygen. The back of her small fingers rubbed against her eyes to remove the additional water from them after.

            “Stop the truck!”

            “Hey! Stop the truck!”

            Suddenly, Noemi became more alert as she heard this. It sounded like Glenn and Tara. She shrieked when she heard the glass above her break. No glass came out but, that didn’t stop Noemi from ducking.

            “Hey! Knock it off!” Rosita hissed. However, the two other adults ignored her warning. Which only added salt to her mood.

 “Glenn stop! Noemi’s in there!” Tara yelled to the Korean next to her.

            “What?! Why didn’t you tell me that before I did that?” Glenn gasped.

            “You didn’t exactly ask me!” Tara retorted.

 As Noemi heard the fighting in the background, she shrank in her seat. She never liked it when others fought nor did she understand the premise behind it. She felt the need to stop it but, how? Well, she could just show up. Usually, adults stop fighting when a kid shows up randomly, right?  Finally, Noemi whimpered to Abraham,

            “C-can you please stop the car? I-I want to see if Glenn’s okay.”

            Noemi was rather surprised the Scottish redneck had heard her. He turned to her with a grin, “Since, _ you_ asked nicely.” Then, the truck came to a slow stop. She heard people getting out of the back of the truck. Eugene had already gotten out as did Abraham. Noemi unbuckled herself before, Tara got her out. Noemi’s not really sure what really happened to cause the fighting between Abraham and her brother. She not even sure how it even started. She caught that Eugene was a scientist that has a cure for the apocalypse and they were heading to Washington D.C. Noemi was awestruck by this information. Was there really a cure to end all of this? Then, she thought about how would things be if they did change.

          She had gotten so used to holding a gun and defending herself that she didn’t know if she could go back living the way she did. Her parents wouldn’t be there, Jenny wouldn’t be there,  Alice wouldn’t because she’d live far away…but, she could be living normally. No longer feeling the need to run from something, or wondering if she’d get the walkers rabies in the middle of the night. Due to conflict, she shook these thoughts away. She didn’t like thinking like this. All she wanted to focus on right now was her friends, her family, and surviving the apocalypse.

Tara put her down by Eugene and asked him to watch her as she went over to the two men fighting. With all the commotion going on, walkers were bound to show up. This caused Noemi to grab her handgun from her pocket. She tried to stand up only to be quickly reminded that her foot was sprained. Man, she found this to be annoying. She turned her head when Eugene hollered for the group to draw their attention to the herd of walkers coming their way.

            She leaped when Eugene started firing an automatic machine gun at the walkers. How did she not notice him getting one? That would be a question for later as she crawled over behind Eugene. After she was in position, she was randomly reminded of something and a rather odd sense of composure. She raised her gun up and carefully planned out each shot she made to each walkers head. She heard the ringing of metal on metal but, paid no attention to it. Soon, the others joined in to help the two.

            Once all the walkers were killed, Tara immediately, grabbed Noemi off the ground and ran back to the group of people. Noemi put the barrel of the gun back into her pocket. Glenn fussed over her for a bit. Checking to see if she had any bullet wounds or bites. He let out a sigh of relief when he found nothing. the air was thick was the silence of the sun. The entire group gawked at the now wounded truck. The sides of them filled with tiny holes. Abraham was the one who walked up to it. He crouched down and stared at it again for awhile. Finally, He exhales in shock.

“Son of a bitch.”

            Some time later, Glenn and Tara gave the weapons back to Abraham and Rosita. Noemi followed them down the path. Slowly but, surely Abraham, Eugene, and Rosita tagged along behind them. She heard Abraham and Tara talking, however, she started to get comfortable and drift back into slumber.

 

* * *

 

**_ Back to Daryl, Beth, and Irina _ **

 

            This trio had been walking for hours now. In fact, it was night now. They had stumbled upon a grayish blue car surrounded by a bunch of rotten dead bodies on a thick black road. The doors to the driver and passenger’s side were wide open.  

Beth and Irina inspect the car from the inside. Irina checked the backseat while, Beth slipped into the driver’s seat. This didn’t last long however when the three of them heard the groaning the woods they rushed out of. Beth and Irina hopped out of the car and to Daryl, who was opening the trunk. 

          The inside of the vehicle’s back compartment was surprisingly large. It was enough for two, maybe three people if someone squeezed in. Beth was the first one to climb in. She planted herself in the right-hand corner. After Irina sat beside her, she placed her sniper under herself and grabbed her hatchet. Her hatchet sparkled in the moonlight. Lastly, Daryl descended into the trunk and closed the lid. He grabbed his red handkerchief to tie the lid to the car from the inside. 

           Irina definitely felt squished between her best friend’s father and the petite blonde. She jumped at the sounds of walkers groans and slamming against the hood of the trunk.  They heard some of them walk by. Fear seemed to pool into to her heart as it’s beat sped up. The grip on her hatchet would vary between loose and tight.  She had never been this close a heard of walkers, let alone one this huge. Irina looked to her right, Beth was in a state of panic, and to the left of her, Daryl was fixed on the entrance, crossbow ready to shoot. Irina couldn’t help but, admire how he could remain collected during all this.

            The walker herd kept at this all night long keeping the three awake with either stricken fear or collective protection, leaving them completely exhausted, especially Irina. The trio had been up most nights and when Daryl wasn’t taking the night shift, it was Irina. The night before was her turn and while she had a chance to get some rest last night, she couldn’t help but, think of Alice. Was she okay? Did she make it out of the prison? Sure, she’s always been able to handle herself just fine but, Irina didn’t think she’s ever dealt with something that extreme. She begged and hoped to whatever was listening up in the heavens that she made it out alive as well as her sister.

          Irina didn’t notice the night had passed until the sunlight flooded through the crack of the entrance. Her body was sore from sitting in one position and the muscles under her eyes felt oddly heavy. She wished she could just sleep but, the world was just not that great to her right now.  Sleeping in meant not keeping a strong vigil. That was a luxury no one could afford.  Irina glanced at Daryl who was still awake and still pointing his crossbow at the opening. Seriously, did his arms ever get tired? Then, she turned her head to Beth, who was just waking up.

_“When did she fall asleep?!” Irina thought. “More importantly, how?!”_

            Beth glanced at Irina and Daryl with a questioning expression. Daryl just nodded, he reached over Irina. Irina leaned closer to Beth so Daryl can have more room. She watched as Daryl loosened and untied the dirty scarlet cloth off of the knob of the lid. Daryl popped up the hood and jumped out followed by Irina and Beth. Irina let a huge yawn as she stretched, cracking her back and neck. Daryl and Beth gawked at her as she did this.

            Irina took note of this when she was done swing her upper body. “What?” She asked.

            “Damn! Are you alright? Sounded like you broke every bone in your body! ”Daryl exclaimed.

            Irina blinked as she tried to process what he was talking about. Then, she laughed as she put two and two together.

            “Oh, yeah I’m fine! That was only my neck and back on a normal day.” Irina grinned.

            Again, Daryl and Beth were shocked, “I don’ know if I want to hear your bones on a good day.” Beth chimed. Once again, Irina chuckled, “Yeah, I get that a lot.”  Soon, Beth started to giggle at this. Daryl tried to keep a straight face however, it didn’t seem to work well.

            “Alright,I’d hate to ruin this but, we gotta get goin’ before more walkers decide they want seconds,” Daryl said in between breaths, calming his laughter.

            After that, the three dragged their feet for more hours until it was time to set up camp once more. Daryl hunted for food, Beth set up a trap consisting of tire rims and cans, and Irina built the fire with wood, sunlight, and broken metal from one of the tire rims.  At about sun high, Daryl returned with a dead snake. Irina eyed for second, she had never had snake before. She’s had the regular meat found in stores like pork, chicken, and beef but, never snake. Then, she went back to the adjusting the fire.

         Daryl cut off parts of the snake for Beth and Irina with his hunting knife. While Daryl had his snake raw, Irina roasted her’s and Beth’s over the ember flames on a stick. Irina raised an eyebrow to but, shrugged it off. She can’t afford to be picky. She takes a small bite to test it. Her eyes widen as her taste buds activated.

 _“This is almost as good as chicken!”_ She thought. Quickly, she took another much larger bite. Once, she was done she looked at her stick then, the fire and tossed it in there. Meanwhile, Daryl was still eating the raw snake extremely animalistic like. Which frightened Irina a little. The dead silence didn’t help either.

“I want a drink.” Beth pipped up.

“Okay,” Daryl replied and threw a water bottle filled with water to her. It bounced on the grass covered ground before.

Beth glanced at then, huffed “No, I want an alcoholic drink!”

Irina's eyebrows frowned in astonishment, how could she possibly be thinking about that when they were in the middle of a forest with walkers, who could easily any of them at any time?  “Beth, is that really necessary right now?” she inquired.

“Yes, it is! I’m tired of just sitting around here waiting for something to happened. We need to do something!” Beth responded.

“So, you want an alcoholic beverage just because, you’re bored?” Irina inwardly inquired.

Beth choose to ignore the question and asked, “Do you want to go?”

“I don’t think that would be a good decision. Considering our situation, I think we should stay here and try to survive the day and night.” Irina suggested. She did not wish to have another argument about whether or not it was a smart thing to do something. However, it seems fate was not her friend.

“Is that what you want to do or is that what you were taught to do? You’re still a kid that need to feel alive!” Beth sneered.

Man did Irina’s blood boil to her face. How dare she insult the way that Alice and Jenny taught her! If it weren’t for them, she wouldn’t be alive right now. She wanted to say something, however, she just let out a frustrated sigh, picked up her sniper and hatchet.

“Hey! Where are you goin?” Daryl spoke up.

“To get food,” Irina replied bitterly.

“I just got food,” Daryl responded.

“I’m getting more.” Irina retorted bitterly

         With that, she left with the thought of the blonde and her best friend’s father bickering when she left. About sun high or that is what it looked like to Irina as the sun danced around in her sight every time she blinked. Her eyes suddenly felt heavier than normal, her feet dragged against the leaves and her shoulders slumped forward. All she wanted to do was to sleep.

          Every now and then, she would jolt herself awake and regather her strength to kill walkers. However, she knew she had to find a place to rest and fast otherwise, she was good as dead. Finally, she across an old country house. The windows were covered in long stands of pine wood. Before she opened the door, she grabbed her hatchet out of her pocket. The wooden door creaked when it opened but, not as much as the screen door. 

          All Irina could see on the inside was trash, cigarette buds, trash, newspapers, and an old recliner. The living room carpet was a light grimy brown and the walls were a pukey yellow-ish green. Irina cringed at the living room’s poor condition. She grew up in a city house that was spotless most of the time. It made her wonder why someone would live like this. If her mother were still alive and with her right now, she’d be throwing a fit about how filthy it was. She knew it would happen, too. Her mom always nagged her about her room. She smiled just a little when she realized that her mother might think she was the cleanest person out here right now.

         She hadn’t been in a home since she was in Woodberry and even then she didn’t stay there long when Jenny found the Governor’s daughter in that room filled with walker heads in tanks.

          She shook that thought away once she remembered that she wasn’t back in that time frame. Her time frame was in an apocalypse with flesh eating walkers. While she wasn’t out in the open, she hadn’t checked the house for anything dangerous.

         After scanning the lower area of the house, Daryl and Beth managed to find her, and she noticed that Beth had gotten her way as she watched her sit down and begin to drink. Irina rolled her eyes, irritated, and went up the stairs to continue her search of the place. She checked about three rooms. The one down the walkway was the guest room, the one with the door embedded into the wall on the left was the master bedroom which had two walkers but, they were already dead. The one on the right of the hallway was different than the others.

          She unfastened the door and peeked around. Irina saw all of the markings of a teenage girl's bedroom. Everything was still perfectly in place, including what looked like a diary on the bedside table. It room was a bright white, dulled down because of time along with the dark scarlet smears stained it. The bed, shielded with black covering and pink sheets, was facing horizontally from the doorway. Picture frames of brown and black framed photos on the wall along with posters of rock stars from the 80’s and 90’s

     Irina sat on the bed and glanced over at the dairy. She wondered what the appeal was about having a dairy was. She’d seen on tv, people having their diaries read and their secrets are blown so, what was the point of writing something down when you can easily keep it in your head. Nothing would happen that way.

    Despite what she thought, she picked up the diary. She put her hatchet in its place. and opened it to a random page in the middle. The words danced around as she read the entry was dated May 19th, 2010. She squinted to see better and surprisingly, she could. However, this didn’t fix how tired she felt.

 _“Okay, I’ll only read one and then go to sleep.”_ Irina thought.

 

_Dear Diary,_

_So, my trip to the mall to find my homecoming dress turned into something out of James Patterson book. I found the perfect dress, a strapless blue sequined one, with a flared bottom, but as I was leaving the store and that same damn boy was there again!_

_You know, they one that’s wanted me all school year long but, I’ve had no interest in him yet he insists I do, yeah that guy. He’s not even in my grade! Honestly, I don’t know why people like him? Maybe it’s his dark hair? Or his brown eyes? Ugh! I just hate him! I even told him I had a boyfriend and he still tried to persuade me to date him! Of course, I said no._

_-Janet_

            Irina gawked at the text in front of her. She wondered what this boy did that made this girl-er Janet hate them so much. Sure, the guy didn’t listen to her when she said that she had a boyfriend but that can’t be the only reason, right? Her interest skyrocketing, she turned the page to find out more about this Janet. Maybe, more about this person she hates.

_May 20, 2010_

_Dear Dairy,_

_I just got back from the mall again. What? I’m not about to let some guy ruin my time at the mall! That’s been my place to hang out for two years now! Anyway, that guy came up to me and asked me if I had a boyfriend. I again told him I did and not in a so polite way. he said that he figured because I was so pretty. This time, I already had a weird feeling just taking to him.  The feeling that was radiating off him was darker than normal. I said thank you and tried to walk a little faster._

_Can you believe he kept walking next to me, telling me that if I went out with him, even once, I wouldn't ever think about my boyfriend again?! God, what an asshole! Why did girls drool off this guy during school? He managed to walk in front of me and turned around. Now I was getting pissed off and  scared. I stopped in my tracks for a second, but I told myself just to get to the front entrance and dad would be there to pick me up. So, I walked around him, and told him I needed to leave, but he followed me._

_Anyway, thank god dad was waiting right out front because I don't even want to think about what that guy would have done if he hadn't been! Hopefully, I never run into him again! I’m going to start entering the stores of the mall that lead outside from now on or at least have my friends with me.  Oh jeez, it’s night! Time to pass out, though. Big day tomorrow._

_-Janet_

_“Well glad you’re okay Janet.”_ Irina thought with a tired smile. Then, she glanced around the room, at the blood smeared walls. She remembered the walkers in the master bedroom which are most likely the parents of Janet.  After this, she mentally apologized for thinking she was okay.

      Suddenly, the book was taken out of her hands. More alert, Irina rolled off the bed and launched for her hatchet. On pure instinct, she swung her weapon. She expected, what she thought was a walker, to groan and maybe pounce as she did this. However, there was no groan or moans. Instead, she heard Daryl’s voice, “Wow! Chill! It’s just me!”

Irina blinked as blood flushed to her cheeks, “Oh, sorry!” Irina whimpered.

Daryl raises his eyebrow, “When was the last time you slept?” He asked

“Um, “Irina started. “About two or three days ago.  Why?”

“Cause, ya look dog tired,” Daryl replied. Then, he pointed a finger at Irina, “No more night watches fer ya, missy! Ya can’t fight walkers if yer ta tired,”

Irina giggled, “Okay, Alice! I’ll-” Irina stopped herself in her tracks. She couldn’t believe she just said that after everything that happened. Though, with Daryl around it, almost seemed like Alice wasn’t missing. That could be due to them being related.

“I-I’m sorry.” Irina stammered.

“Don’t be. You didn’t lose her.” He replied.

Irina wanted to say that he didn’t lose her either but, was cut short when the Dixon spoke. With that, after days of not sleeping, she layed down and drifted fast asleep. After about two hours, Daryl woke her up to tell her, 

“We’re gonna head out. Find somewhere else ta settle.” 

Irina, shocked, replied, “What?! Why?”

    All Daryl said was, “I’m just over this place. Too many memories bein pulled up.” Then he walked out of the room.  Irina started to follow but  looked  back for just a second. "I'm right behind you." She said. She quickly grabbed the diary. In some way, reading Janet's diary somehow kept the girl alive. "You're not going out like that. Someone should know how your story ended." She thought about the statement that Daryl made and it made her  wondered, what happened after she left? She couldn’t have been gone that long right? Once they made outside, Irina was shocked to see Daryl and Beth getting ready to start a fire, but she wanted to ask them about what they were doing but, as soon as she saw them make cocktails, that sense flew out the window. She began helping them burn it down.

       As the house lit up in flames, Beth started to flip off the burning building. She tapped Daryl’s shoulder to get him to do it. Irina gawked at the blonde when she raised her middle finger to the sky then, Daryl.  After a second, she shrugged it off. She’s been Alice’s friend for a while so, surprises like this should be expected when alone with a group of just three.

       After walking and gathering food for a few days , saving Beth from a bear trap and a walker, they finally reach a house past a cemetery. The cemetery was small that consisted of four rows of tombstones. Once everything was settled, Irina announced that she was going to take a nap. She went to one of the upstairs, found a bed, and fell on it. Never in her life has she felt comfortable on a bed in her life.

            The sound of panic and commotion snapped Irina’s eyes open. Eyes widened and eyebrows frowned, she jumped out of the bed and ran down the stairs. She found Daryl holding up the door and Beth rushing around the corner.

“What’s going on?!” Irina exclaimed.

“Herd of Walkers!” was all Daryl said.

“What?! But, why is a walker herd here?” Irina wondered.

           Eventually, Daryl was tired of trying to keep the walkers a bay. Irina grabbed her hatchet before Daryl let them in. Irina killed about three walkers along the outside. Daryl said he would take care of it and to wait for him. Now, Beth and Irina were outside by the train tracks. Irina paced back and forwardth by a tree. Then, she feels someone cover her mouth with something soft and damp to prevent her screams or so she believed. Irina thrashed and struggled against the stranger. She clawed at their arm to remove it from her face.

           She tried to scream for Beth but, a sudden weariness fell over her. She vaguely remembered being dragged into somewhere comfy. Before, she passed out. She felt something large thown into her. No doubt it being Beth. Irina had no idea what was happening, where they were going. All she wanted was for Alice, Daryl, or her brother to save them, however, she wasn’t too sure that would happen.


	28. Chapter Twenty Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this late! I was so busy with school and other things. Keep in mind this isn't edited by my editors yet but I just wanted to get this up here. This is kind of a preview. I will change this to an edited version later. In the meantime, enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-Seven

       It had been one night since Michonne found her way to the group. Alice had stumbled down the light pine wood steps. She yawned as she reached the kitchen and sat down beside Carl at the table. She heard the clatter of a glass softly hit the table in front of her. Alice groggily, rubbed her eyes before she saw dry cereal in a bowl in front of her.  It had no milk but that's to be expected. She had learned to appreciate the little things.

She glanced at Carl who was currently smiling at her. She wasn’t sure it was just the smile that made her cheeks light  up  pink. Maybe it was that the sunlight showed his brown highlights or maybe the caring look in his eyes. Well, whatever he was doing, it affected Alice

                “Good Morning. How’d you sleep?” He said.

                Alice blinked to snap herself back in reality, “Uh…good.”

Alice turned her head at the sound of laughed, “You sound like me back in high school.”

                Michonne smirked an all knowing smile. She always thought Alice and Carl were cute together. She picked up the bag of cereal. Alice simply blushed at what Michonne said. She was embarrassed that she got caught all flustered by Carl. Alice jammed a spoonful  Suddenly, Carl laughed . Alice eyebrow’s frowned upon this until she noticed he was looking at Michonne’s shirt. It was a plain white flowy button down blouse. Alice was confused. Was there something wrong with her shirt?

Michonne cocked an eyebrow along with an amused smile, “ Do you have something to say about my extremely comfortable and attractive shirt? “

                “ No, no, no.” Carl chuckled  “It looks great.” Soon Michonne sat down and grabbed the plastic bag containing the same cereal. She poured it into her bowl with a slight dread. Alice’s thoughts wander as she wondered what could possibly be bothering here. Was it the prison falling? Maybe, it was losing the people from the prison or maybe it was both. Alice soon got her answer when Michonne spoke up.

                “ I wish we had some soy milk.”

Alice’s face relaxed into an unamused expression however it didn’t last long. Her expression quickly morphed into a smile trying to contain laughter.

                “Seriously?” Carl asked

                “Really, that’s what yer worried about?” Alice added, letting a small laugh escape her lips.

                “Yes, seriously. Have you ever tried it? “ Michonne inquired  of the two children.

                Alice thought about the question for a minute. Had she had soy milk? Alice shook her head both to Michonne’s question and hers. Now, she was curious as to what it tasted like.

“What does it taste like?” the young brunette asked.

                “Like watery milk,” Carl interjected before Michonne ever could. He took a bite of his cereal after this.

                “Oh? And how do you know?”  Michonne responded.

Carl put his spoon  down before he spoke, “My best friend in third grade  was allergic to dairy.”

He paused as he waited or a reaction for either girl in the room.

    “Uh-huh.” Michonne signaled him to continue.

                “And every day he would bring this soy stuff to lunch. I tried it. “Carl continued.

                “And?” Alice requested for Carl to finish the story when he stopped.

                “I threw up,” Carl replied. Prior to Alice questioning him if he really did do that, Michonne chuckled in nonbelief “ Oh, yeah, right.”

                “All right, all right. I almost threw up. But I was like, ugh.” Carl explained through a smile. Towards the end, he would act out the vomiting part out however nothing came out which caused a few giggles to erupt from the two girls at the table with him.

                 Once, they were done laughing at his acting, Carl continued, “It was so gross. I mean, literally, I would rather have powdered milk than to have to drink that stuff again. I would rather have Judith's formula!" Silence intruded in on their conversation when Carl came to an abrupt end. Alice looked over at Carl. She knew exactly was going on in his head. She wanted to hold him and tell him it was okay. However, she would be lying if she said that. Carl broke her thoughts on what to do for him when he got up from the table and pushed his chair in.

                “I'm gonna go finish my book. I have a couple chapters left. “ Carl huffed then, walked off. After that, Alice quickly followed him to make sure he was okay. Not to comfort him but, to see if he really was okay. She was never good at the comforting thing.

_**Meanwhile** _

                After Carl left the table and Alice went to comfort him. She got up and picked up all three bowls. She stacked them on top of each other and walked them into the kitchen. Then, Rick slowly stumbled into the room. His face was less swollen and his wounds were now scabbed over with bandages on top of them.

“ Thank you.” Michonne looked over to Rick as he spoke, “I heard them laughing in there. Almost forgot what that sounded like. “ Rick paused before he started to talk  about Carl. “I can't be his father and his best friend. He needs you. I know that's a lot to throw at you. So if you're ever feeling like you need a break... “Soon after Rick finished his speech, Rick turned toward the sink. Michonne huffy hiss,

                “ I'm done taking breaks.”

Rick turned back to Michonne and gawked at her for a minute before letting her continue, “So what's the plan? This place, is it home or just a stop along the way?”

                Rick answered, “Well, let's…” he paused as he thought about the question. Was it a place to stay? It was safe at the moment and they hold up a good fort here. Well, maybe a fence around it would help be that was about it. However, it wouldn’t stay safe for long. It could easily turn into another prison situation. “let's just stay here while we figure it out. “ He stated.

                With that, Michonne dropped the subjected and changed it quickly “Well, we'll need more supplies. I'll go with Carl and Alice to get some. “ Michonne stated.

“No, the kids will stay here. I’ll go.” Rick debated.

“You were unconscious yesterday.” Michonne pointed out as she leaned against the counter behind her. Her hands were holding herself up from it.

                Rick had to hand the woman of color some credit, she wasn’t wrong on that part. However, he was still extremely stubborn as any natural born leader is.  “I'm awake today.” He clarified.

                “We need you strong. Just rest. Just one more day. They’ll be fine.” Michonne advised with a smile.

                 Eventually, Rick gave up and decided to stay while the kids and Michonne go on a run. “How long you think you'll be? “ he asked

                Michonne reassured  I’ll get a couple bags, shouldn't be too long. We'll be back by noon.”

Rick turned his attention to the children in the room, “All right, you two follow her lead. You understand?”

Alice nodded with a smile, the way that Rick was acting was reminding her of her own Dad.

                “ Hey. Everything okay?” Rick asked Carl. Alice moved her head towards Carl.  She wondered the same thing even though she knew what might be wrong.

                “Yeah, I'm just... hungry,” Carl replied.

Alice resisted the urge to shake her head. She knew it was a lie. After all, he did just eat, didn’t he?

                “ All right.” Rick huffed “I'll see you three in a couple hours.”

With that, the three left Rick alone inside the house. He climbed upstairs and flopped onto a bed in a room with clothes from the previous owners scattered about. He grunted with the bed when he landed on it. After that, he slowly drifted to sleep.

                                                              ***

                A few hours later, the three of them are walking down some train tracks. They had just raided a small store that was ransacked for everything that it had a long time age so, it didn’t have much.  The air was warm and thick with silence. Alice wondered if there was anything she could do to make the silence stop.

                Before Alice could do or say anything, Michonne finally asked something. “ Find anything good? Candy bars? Comic books? Crazy Cheese?” she inquired

                Carl turned his attention from the ground to her, “Huh?” he asked.

                Then, Michonne whipped out some cheese in a spray can and displayed it to him, “ Bam! Crazy Cheese.  Found it still sealed and everything.Now I'll be nice and let you have the first pull.” She paused to hear a reaction from Carl but, there was nothing in return

                Meanwhile, Alice’s eyes lit up at the mention of the delicious treat. She would eat crazy cheese and  crackers during the summer hen she didn’t want to fix a sandwich.

“Did you find crackers too? Alice asked. She mimicked the pant of a dog when she asked this question.

                Michonne glanced at the smaller girl, “No, sorry.” She replied. Alice showed somewhat of a disappointment but it was quickly whisked away by Michonne. “You know. You can eat it without crackers, right?”

                Alice wondered if that was true. Then she remembered it had to be because she would see her father do it all the time so she guessed it was okay. She lifted the can to her open mouth after Michonne handed it to her. No wonder her father loved to this when the world wasn’t crappy! It was awesome and tasted good.

                After that, Alice offered Carl some and he declined. Alice shrugged and gave the can back to Michonne.

                “Are you sure you don’t want any?” Michonne asked.

                “I'm fine.” He reassured the two girls. 

However, Michonne was not convinced. She raised an eyebrow as she spoke, “You don't seem fine.”

                Carl rolled his eyes, “ I'm just tired. Okay?” he huffed. There was a long pause of silence before Michonne came up with an idea. She squeezed a large amount of cheese in her mouth. Then, she showed it off to Carl. Alice eyebrow’s bowed and she let out a confused chuckle at the older’s reaction. Just what was she doing?

                Carl just stared at Michonne as if she grew another head. Michonne noticed the awkward silence that followed after and saw Carl giving her a certain look. She stopped with her mouth still hanging out with a glob of cheese sticking out. Carl walked ahead of Alice and Michonne.

                Michonne closed her mouth and ate the cheese. She wiped away excess cheese from the corner of her mouth.

“I thought it was funny.” Alice uttered.

“Thanks. I do try.” Michonne chuckled. Shortly after, they follow Carl to a door of a house.

                “I'm sorry. I'm not very good at making boys your age laugh.” Michonne apologized. Then she rubbed the glass of one of the windows of the house, looked into the interior of the home to make sure. She tapped the glass with her knuckles once more. 

“I was laughing. Inside.” Carl corrected. After this Michonne knocked a couple more times before she replied.

                “ Toddlers find me funny. Two, three-year-olds.” She said sorrowfully.

                Alice seemed to pick up the sad stillness in the air.  “Toddlers? Why would she have to entertain toddlers?” She wondered suspiciously. Next, Alice gets the idea 

                “What do you mean toddlers?” Carl asked in a curious tone.

Michonne hesitated before she responded,

                 “I had a three-year-old son and he happened to find me extremely funny.” She let out a heavy sigh before she pried open the door. Carl and Alice’s were wide from shock.

                “D-did she just say she had a child?” Alice questioned in a hushed whisper.

                “I think she did,”Carl answered. After a short pause, both kids waltzed in the house, determined to find out more. They found Michonne in the living room, her head engrossed in a tv stand with her hands grabbing doors attached to it.

 "We need food, batteries, water, in that order," Michonne instructed.

                 Now, Alice and Carl would have done this task if Michonne didn't just drop 'she had a baby' bomb on them, just a second ago. The boyfriend and girlfriend started their interrogation of the older woman as they walked around for a short amount of time. During that time, they began to ask 'Why didn't they tell them?' 'What was his name?' and ' Did you have any more?'

                Finally, Michonne turned around to face them, "Okay. I'll answer one question from one of you at a time, one room at a time, and only after we've cleared it."

Carl and Alice glanced at each other. They both wondered who and what they were going to ask. With just one look, They decided. They turned their attention back to the sword-wielding female.

 "What was your son's name?" Carl inquired.

 "I said after."Michonne corrected. Then, she walked into the next room, which was the dining room. Carl and Alice followed after her.

 "Well, these are actually two separate rooms and we already cleared that one, so..."Carl pointed out. Michonne halted for a moment. She knew he had a point so, she replied to the question.

                " Andre. His name was Andre Anthony." After a small hiatus, Carl and Alice went off to go look for food. Michonne quickly changed the subject. As Alice came back with cans of food and Carl with mints, she pointed to a drawer. "Make sure there isn't a box of cookies hiding in there." She said quickly then, walked into the hallway.

 Carl bounded up to her, Alice went on ahead into the hallway. "Did you have any other kids?"he questioned eagerly.

Once again, Michonne corrected him, "Rules of the game, my friend."

                 "So? Did you?" he asked.

Michonne scoffed,  "You know, you could be a spy. Or a cop." Next, she let out a deep sigh, "No, one was enough for me. And Andre was a handful, like you."She smirked.

 "Does this hallway count as a room?" Carl asked.

 "If you can find something we can use,"Michonne stated.

                Suddenly, Alice came back from the depths of the hall, her bag stuffed with blankets she found in a closet nearby.

                "I finished scouting the hallway. Found some blankets. Does it count? "Alice stated with a cocky grin.

  Carl looked over at his girlfriend then, to Michonne with a smirk that Mimicked Alice's.

   "Technically, yes."Michonne smiled.

 "So? How long has it been?" Carl question.

"It happened after, you know after everything happened," Michonne told.

                "Does my dad know?" He asked.

Alice wondered if Michonne would notice he asked without any of them checking any rooms.Something told her that Michonne didn't care.

                "Never told him. Never told anyone till just now." Michonne replied.

                During a long pause of silence, Carl looked back at Alice and she nodded to him. "Your secret is safe with us."

"It's not really a secret." Michonne corrected once more.

"It's still safe with us." both children chimed.

Michonne and Alice stumbled into a blue and pink room. It was most likely a kids room with all the toys lying around on the floor. They didn't find much in there except a door. Inside, was a baby pink room tainted with smeared blood on the walls. On the bed were corpses of two children and in the chair was a corpse of a mother who shot herself in the head.

                Alice stood there in shock. However, soon the shock faded in into sadness. The sight before her almost equaled to when she had to deal with Jenny.  Suddenly she felt a hand push her out of the room as she slowly complied. As she was being pushed out of the room, she gawked at the scene. Michonne and Alice pressed themselves against the smooth door.

                "What the hell did I just see?" Alice wondered in shock.

Neither of the girls noticed when Carl walked into the room until he spoke up.

" Michonne, Alice," He asked, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine," Michonne replied.

Then, Carl blurted out a guess," There's a baby in there."

                 "Uh, No. It was ah..."Alice trailed off

                " It's a dog," Michonne stated.

  As much as Michonne tried to cover it up, Carl didn't buy it.

"My dad let me name her," Carl responded. "Maybe-- maybe she and Andre are together somewhere. "

                At that moment, Alice remembered why Carl was her boyfriend. The way he said that made her sweet tooth ache. After that, Alice glanced to Michonne, who had a warm smile.

"Come on. It's almost noon. " Michonne replied. "Your dad will wonder where we are if we're late. " Michonne chuckled.

                Next, the trio made their way back to the house they were staying. They joked laughed, and teased each other all the way. Well, Michonne did most of teasing to Alice and Carl. Alice blushed every time she did and Carl would duck his head under the hat.

                However, that came to an end when Rick came out of the house like a bat out of hell.

                “Let's go. Let's go.” Rick whispered hurriedly.

                That order was all it took for Michonne, Carl, and Alice to run the other direction with Rick following behind. Once they got to a safe spot in the woods, Rick explained what was wrong. Apparently, a couple of no-good bandits were raiding the small home and were planning to hurt them when they got back. Rick didn't really clarify how they wanted to hurt them, which made Alice confused. She also didn't understand why Michonne was so angry.

Later that day, Everyone managed to calm down. They strolled through the woods with some care but, it was mostly about the walkers. Now, they were searching for a new place to rest and food.

“How hungry are you, the scale of one to ten ? “ Rick questioned to anyone.

“ Yeah.” Carl chuckled .

“About five?” Alice guessed.

Michonne just shrugged at the question.

 “Well, it's been a while. I'm gonna go check the snares.” Rick declared.

 “Can I go with you?” Carl inquired.

“And me too?” Alice piped up. She just loved checking traps when she was younger.

“Well, how else are you gonna learn?” Rick directed to Carl. Then, he turned to Alice, “I don’t have to worry about you. I’m sure your Dad taught you a thing or two.”

Next, he looked at all of the people in his group. “We'll stay another day or two,” Rick commanded. “Get some more rest.”

“Finished healing up?” Michonne question.

Rick replied as they walked,“ I'm almost there.”  Shortly, Rick came to a halt in his tracks. This stopped the others as well. They saw a sign that was sprayed with red paint. It said,

**Sanctuary**

**Terminus!**

Rick turned around to face Michonne, Carl, and Alice. They have been seeing these signs all over the place and he noticed as they keep moving, there are more signs. All the options they have right now, point to going there.  “We're close now, right?” Rick asked them.

Alice followed what Rick had said and asked, “To Terminus?” 

“ Yeah. We are.” Rick answered as he walked on ahead again.The others followed suit.

“When we get there, are we gonna tell them? “  Carl asked.

Rick glanced at him, “ Tell them what?” He replied.

“Everything that's happened to us. All the stuff we've done. Are we gonna tell them the truth?”  Carl interrogated.

“ We're gonna tell them who we are.” He responded.

“But how do you say that? I mean... who are we?” Carl questioned.

Abruptly, the sound of a walker interrupted the quiz between Carl and Rick. All four of them rushed to it. The male walker dressed in a plain shirt, with a button up, spilt open, and dirty blue jeans were to be found by a big talk tree surrounded by smaller sized trees. It paid no attention to them as it moaned and groaned. Michonne killed it with her sword instantly. The walker fell with a thud.

Michonne walked back before, they went on to finding the trap nearby. Rick crouched down by it and instructed Carl and Alice on how to set it up.

“There you go. It's a small one. It'll do. So, this is just a simple slipknot. Tie one on both ends, then you tighten one side to a branch. Now, you see how the ground here is sort of like a funnel shape? It's a trail. “

Carl and Alice did as they were told, both managed to do it on the first try.

“ That's right. That's where you want to set the noose. So you hide it with leaves.” Rick directed as he placed the dry fallen leaves on the earth floor on top of it. “Then you put sticks all around it so any animals going by have to run this way right into the trap. “

Then, Carl heard a sound in the distance. “Did anyone hear that?” he asked. The two adults and child shook their heads. He heads it once more.

“Help! Somebody help! “

Alice spoke up, “ I heard it that time! Sounded like someone calling for help!”

That was all Carl needed to get his gears going. Within an instant, he was off to help the poor soul in need.

“Carl!” Alice hollered. She quickly ran after him.

“Carl. Carl, stop! Carl!” Rick yelled as well after his son. However, those attempts did not bring Carl back. Rick, Michonne , and Alice ran through the woods. They hoped they got to Carl before he did something rash.

Soon, they reached a bush that had a view of a clearing. A man dressed in a green shirt with an opened gray and red flannel surrounded by a herd of walkers. He pleaded for the walkers to stay back, to get away, no, and for someone to help him. Sadly, however, all he got in return were the growls from the walkers. Eventually, the walkers started to devour him. Flesh and tissue were torn from his body. One feature from the man stood out as he was being eaten. His right eye was taken out of his socket, blood gushed from it as it was done.

“We can't help him. We've got to go. ”Rick reasoned to Carl.  Even though Carl wanted to help the man in the clearing, he knew his father was right. There was no way that he could help him know. A feeling of dread washed over him

‘“Let's go." Rick told.

    That night, they found a clearing that had a SUV . There they set up camp and ate food. Rick and Michonne stayed outside and talked while  Alice and Carl hopped into the backseat of the car, falling asleep almost instantly. Alice was by the right back door and Carl was on the left. She had no idea how long she’d been out, but suddenly Alice was startled awake by the sound of a voice she didn’t recognize. She half way sat up and listened closer. She didn’t have time to put together what the voice was saying because, before she could even collect her thoughts, the doors swung open, and hands were grabbed her and Carl. She was yanked her out onto the ground. Landing on her back, with the wind, knocked out of her, Alice looked up to try to see who was on top of her, but in her frantic state, all she could really make out was stringy long hair and a beanie.

She started to try to fight her way out from under him, but she was still too disoriented. She could hear yelling, and out of the corner of her eye she could see another guy on top of Carl, and it looked like he was trying to do something that Alice didn’t even want to imagine. She also saw Rick and Michonne Panicked, Alice struggled harder.

“Oh, dearie me. You screwed up, asshole. You hear me? You screwed up. Today is a day of reckoning, sir. Restitution. A balancing of the whole damn universe. shit, and I was thinking of turning in for the night on New Year's Eve.” Alice heard on of the stranger's cackle.

“Now who's gonna count down the ball dropper with me, huh? Mississippi. Nine Mississippi. Eight Mississippi.”

Suddenly, a redneck's voice stopped the dangerous man  from counting down.

“ Joe! Hold up.” Daryl hollered.

Daryl looked around at the scene. There he saw Rick and Michonne at gunpoint, Carl with a bigger guy on him and… his daughter with a scared look on her face, underneath a guy who is way older. That sight alone made his blood boil. As angry he was, he knew he had to do the smart thing and not cause an uproar. He had his daughter to think about.

   The other side of her, Alice saw him. Her dad was here. She couldn’t believe it! She prayed he would turn up again. Then, she analyzed her situation. Yep, it could have been slightly better. For a moment, she thought he was attacking them with these horrible people, but then she quickly wiped that thought way. There was no way her Dad would side with these guys.

“You’re holdin me up on eight, Daryl.”  Joe scolded with narrowed eyes.

“Just hold on a minute.” Daryl pleaded.

“This is the guy that killed Lou, so we got nothing to talk about.” Joe barked then, looked around the scene with a dash of pride in his eyes. “But, The thing about nowadays is we got nothing but time. Say your piece, Daryl.”

“These people, you're gonna let 'em go. These are good people. Especially, my daughter.” Daryl reasoned.

“Daughter?” Joe inquired.

Joe looked again around him to find the suspected daughter of his. His eyes fell on the small girl under one of his  crewmen. He glanced back at Daryl,

                “That’s your daughter?” He pointed to Alice. Then he whistled, “She’s quite the looker.”

                Daryl couldn’t hold back one retort as his fist balled up, “Keep lookin’ and yer gonna look through black eyes!” He growled.

                Joe held up his hands as a surrender. “Alright, alright! I know, too far. I get it,Daddy. I have a son as well. Got pissed when he was taken by a black car with crosses on the back windshield.” He growled.

At that moment as an idea popped into Daryl’s head. If he just had Alice out of their grasp then they both can take them out. It’s a bit of a stretch but, it’s better than nothing. “If you care for children then let my daughter go,” Daryl ordered.

“You see Daryl. I’d love to do that but, I can’t.” Joe answered. “Your daughter is in his group.” He pointed his index finger to Rick. “And you claim these are good people but he strangled Lou in a bathroom and we can’t let that slide” Then, Joe turned to his crew, “ Look, we can settle this. We're reasonable men. First, we're gonna beat Daryl to death. Then we'll have the girls. Then the boy. Then I'm gonna shoot you and then we'll be square. “

                Daryl’s blood was about to reach boiling point. He made the argument that they were good people once again but, Joe didn’t listen nor cared.

“You want blood, I get it. Take it from me, man. Come on.” Daryl reasoned.

Next thing Alice knows, everyone is fighting Joe’s goons. It happened so fast, she didn’t know who started it. That was all it took to give Alice the push she needed. She hadn’t been away from her dad this long again, just to see him right before her life ended. She heard Carl yelped as the man on top of him struggled with him.

 “Teach them, fellas. Teach them all the way.” Joe sneered.

“Come here, boy.” The man on Carl snarled.

“No!” Carl cried.

      Alice took note that the man on top of her let go of her right arm and started to take off his belt, to do whatever sick thing he was planning to do, she summoned up whatever courage she could muster, reached her right arm as far to her side as she could, grabbed her Machete from her belt that had fallen onto the ground next to her, lifted her body up as much as she could, and slid the knife across the man’s neck.  
     Blood splattered onto her face, and all over her shirt, as the man drew his hands up to his neck, and fell off of her. Alice scrambled backward, as far away from the man as she could get without standing up, and dropped the knife. Shock washed over her. She had just killed a human. A disgusting, psychotic human, but a human.

"O-Oh God!" Alice quietly gasped.Alice looked up to see her dad rushing over to her, and the next thing she knew, he pulled her up into a hug. She hadn’t realized she was shaking .

                “Are you okay?” Her father asked.

                All Alice did was a nod in reply even though she wasn’t okay. She can’t believe that almost happened to her.

                Daryl hugged her tighter, “It’s ok."

       Then, a gunshot was fired. Both Daryl and Alice turned their heads to Michonne, who got up and knocked the gun out of the guy holding her hostage against her will. Then, They heard a scream and they saw Rick had a bit a chunk of Joe’s neck out. Alice was disturbed, shocked, and disgusted. Made her wonder if Rick got bit by a walker but, he didn’t have that grayish pale look. Joe fell with a thud. The guy on Carl, his eyes widen at the sight before him. Fear turned him into a wounded animal back into a corner. He started to threaten to kill Carl. He pointed a gun at Carl’s head.

“I'll kill him. I'll…I'll kill him!” he shouted.

“Let the boy go.” Rick let out a mixture of a hiss and growl. He marched his way over to the disgusting perverted man.

“He's mine.” He told everyone he walked past.

Then, the man jumped up and coward away from Rick. “Stay back. Stay, Please-“ He cried out in fear. It only got worse when Rick stabbed him repeatedly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, I got the edited version up and going! Now, you can enjoy completely.


	29. Chapter Twenty Eight(Full)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry this one was so late! Been busy with Halloween! Btw Happy Halloween! This one was edited by my sister because my mother was too busy herself to it.

-Chapter Twenty-Eight-

      As Alice sat by Michonne in the truck after the assault, she could hear her father talking to Rick, and see the trees swaying in the wind. She was still shaken from the attack and watching Rick pretty much gutting a guy. She understood why he did it, but it was still dramatic. Carl was sleeping the events off, with his head softly resting on Michonne’s lap, and the sunlight illuminating his blood-stained cheek.

            Alice watches Michonne lovingly brush the hair out of Carl’s face, and her thoughts ran wild. She gawked at the fact she had killed a living, breathing human. She didn’t really regret killing the person, he was a terrible human being, but he was still a human being. It was the human part that she regretted. She had never had to do that before, and she was having a hard time reconciling that fact. The smell, and feeling, of their blood on her clothes didn’t help the matter.

            Michonne turned to Alice and noticed the expression on her face. “Hey,” she whispered, her voice full of concern. “You okay?” she added, as Alice snapped out of her thoughts, and whipped her head around to look at her.

Alice took a second to thoroughly consider her answer. She wasn’t stupid, she knew she would be okay, but she didn’t want to seem like a damsel in distress. “No, but I will be.” She finally said.

     “You sure?” Michonne asked.

         “Yeah,” Alice replied stoically. Then, she turned back to her window to embrace the solitude. Silence sliced the air for what felt like an eternity. Alice could tell that Michonne wanted to break it, but she made it obvious that she wanted to be left alone for a little while, and she was thankful that Michonne understood. All she really wanted was to talk to her dad. 

            After a short nap, everyone got up and headed out into the woods. They walked until they reached a gate, and inside they could see the sanctuary they had been looking for. It looked like a warehouse. The group was too cautious to go in without doing a little recon, so, Rick ordered Michonne and Carl to scout the left side of the gate, and the woods around it, and Alice and Daryl to scout the right side of the gate, and that portion of the woods.

            Finally, Alice and Daryl were alone together, but their awkwardness didn’t allow them to speak. As the sound of leaves crunching under their feet grew thicker, Daryl’s face grew heavy with concern for his daughter. He had always done everything he could to protect her from anything he considered too harsh, he would even tell Merle to shut up when his jokes were too vile and cruel, and never in his life would he have expected her to have had to go through what had happened the night before.

            Suddenly he let a small laugh slip from his lips, and Alice looked at him with puzzlement, “ What?”

“Nothin’. Just that, I spent my life tryin’ to protect you, and there you were last night, defendin’ yerself. Guess all that hard work paid off.” he said with a smirk. Then, he noticed a grimace cover Alice’s face, as she bit her bottom lip. “Ya know that it’s alright that ya killed him, right?” Daryl inquired.

Alice turned her gaze to her father, as she tried to figure out how he know what she was thinking. “I don’t care that I killed him. I care that I killed a human.” she replied.

“You’re so much like your mother. She cared about everyone, and that’s not a bad thing, but Alice, ya gotta remember, ya have to survive out here. Just ‘cause they’re alive don’t mean they’re good people. Bein’ good is what makes someone human, and they were terrible people.” Daryl reasoned, then, after a pause, added, “Ya get what I’m tryin’ to say, right?”

            “Yeah, I get what you’re sayin’.” Alice replied with a small smile. Then, after a long, meaningful hug, they scouted the rest of the area and headed back to Rick.

            “Do you, uhh, know what that guy was tryin’ to do?” Daryl asked Alice as they walked, concern and awkwardness filling his voice in unison.

Alice hesitated for a second, then replied shyly, “…yes.”

Her father stopped in his tracks, and pulled her into another hug. “I’m sorry.” He said, as Alice wrapped her arms around him.

“It’s okay, Dad. I’m okay.” She replied, as she nuzzled into his chest.

            Carl and Michonne were already standing next to Rick at the fence when Alice and Daryl made it back. Alice left her father, and went to stand beside Carl, as concern for him flooded over her. “Hey. You okay?” She asked, as she took his hand in hers.

“Yeah.” He replied, squeezing her hand, as he added, “Are you?”

            “Yeah. I know the guy deserved it. They weren’t good people.” She replied.

       Rick decided that they should hide some of their weapons, just in case things went wrong. Then, the group hopped over the gate into, what they presumed was, Terminus. Rick went first, followed by Michonne, then Carl and Alice, and Daryl brought up the rear. As they walked into a building, the took note of the shelves of food, the people working like ants at small tables, and a white-haired woman, who wore a striped sweater, placed at a desk. She was going on and on about sanctuary and community, but she stopped when she noticed them. “Hello.” She said, cautiously greeting them.

The other workers stopped everything they were doing, and all of their eyes became fixed on the group. “Well, I bet Albert is on perimeter watch.” One of the men, with a dirty brown polo, and grimy blue and tan pants, said.

Then, another guy, in a yellow shirt, with a red hoodie underneath, asked, “You here to rob us?”

“No. We wanted to see you before you saw us.” Rick responded in a raspy, determined tone.

“Makes sense. Usually, we do this where the tracks meet.” The guy in the polo said, and he cleared his throat before he spoke again. “Welcome to Terminus. I'm Gareth. Looks like you've been on the road for a good bit.”

“We have.” Rick replied. “I’m Rick. That's Carl, Alice, Daryl, and Michonne.”

Then, with a big smile on his face, Gareth threw his hands in the air, and said, “You're nervous. I get it.” He put his arms down, and stepped a little closer. “We were all the same way. We came here for sanctuary. That what you're here for?” he asked.

“Yes.” Rick answered.

“Good. You found it. Hey, Alex...” Gareth called, and the guy in the yellow shirt and red hoodie made his way over, while he continued, “This isn't as pretty as the front. We got nothing to hide, but the welcome wagon is a whole lot nicer. Alex will take you, ask you a few questions, uhhh, but first, we need to see everyone's weapons. If you could just lay them down in front of you.”

The group had a silent conversation through their eyes. As uncomfortable as they were with laying down their defenses, they knew that when it came to trusting, the knife cut both ways. “Alright.” Rick finally said, as he took his gun out of its holster, and placed it on the ground, his eyes on Gareth the entire time.

“I'm sure you understand.” Gareth said.

“Yes, I do.” Rick replied, as the rest of the group followed his lead, and placed their weapons on the ground, and their hands in the air.

Alex went over to Daryl, and started patting down his sides to make sure they weren’t hiding anything else. “I'd hate to see the other guy.” Alex said, smiling as he noticed the Daryl’s bruised eye.

“You would.” Rick interjected, as Alex went to Carl and patted him down, too.

“They deserve it?” Alex inquired.

“Yes.” Carl abruptly answered, and Rick turned to him, a knowing look crossing his face as he realized that Carl really did understand that everything Rick had done the night before was to protect him.

Alex double checked for weapons on Alice and Michonne, as Gareth said, “Just so you know, we aren't those kind of people, but we aren't stupid either. And you shouldn't be stupid enough to try anything stupid. As long as everyone's clear on that, we shouldn't have any problems. Just solutions. Okay?”

As Gareth walked away, Alex started to hand everyone’s weapons back to them, while Daryl picked up his crossbow possessively. “Follow me.” Alex said, grinning, as he led the group outside.

“So, how long has this place been here?” Daryl asked.

“Since almost the start. When all the camps got overrun, people started finding this place.” Alex explained, and he turned to look at Daryl as they passed a bench, some ferns, and crates stacked on top of each other. “I think it was instinct, you know? Follow a path. Some folks were heading to the coast, others out west or up north, but they all wound up here.

They turned a corner, and arrived at a food stand with meat on a grill, and woman with light brown hair, pulled into a loose ponytail, wearing a cardigan. “Hi. Heard you came in the back door. Smart. You'll fit right in here.” The woman nodded with a smile.

“Hey, Mary, would you fix each of these new folks a plate for me?” Alex asked her.

Michonne then promptly asked him, “Why do you do it? Why do you let people in?”

“The more people become a part of us, we get stronger. That's why we put up the signs, invite people in. It's how we survive.” Alex replied.

As Alex passed out plates of meat to Carl and Michonne, Alice glanced around, and found Rick glaring at something. She turned her gaze to the objects he was staring at, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary, except for an old poncho that looked remarkably like the one her dad used to have. Her suspicion meter started sparking like no tomorrow, but she accepted the plate of food that was being handed to her, as she tried to rationalize what she had just seen.

When Alice wasn’t paying attention, Rick walked up to Alex, knocked the plate of food he was holding to the ground, and pulled a pocket watch out of the pocket of Alex’s pants. He pulled Alex into a headlock with one arm, and put his gun to his head. “Where the hell did you get this watch?” Rick growled, as Alex held up his hands as a sign of surrender.

Michonne, Daryl, Carl, and Alice dropped their plates, and lifted their weapons to point them at the surrounding people, as Alex whimpered, “You want answers? You want anything else? You get 'em when you put down the gun.”

Rick looked around, and noticed someone on a roof. “I see your man on the roof with a sniper rifle. How good's his aim?” he asked, then he continued, a demanding tone filling his voice, “Where did you get the watch? Where’d you get the watch?!”

Alex yelled to the sniper, and told him not to do anything, that he had this and to put his gun down. Then, he tried to explain to Rick that his group was outnumbered, but Rick didn’t seem to care, and he said, “Now, for the last time, where’d you get the watch?”

“I…I got it off a dead one. I didn’t think he’d need it.” Alex replied, whimpering again.

“What about the riot gear? The poncho?” Rick growled, already knowing the truth.

Alice drew her eyes to the poncho again. She knew she wasn’t crazy. It was her dad’s! Her anger began to rise as she started to piece together what was going on.

“Got the riot gear off a dead cop,” Gareth explained as he walked up to the scene slowly, and added, “Found the poncho on a clothesline.”

“Liar! That was my Dad’s!” Alice yelled, her anger boiling over. Then, she saw her dad’s head turn toward her. She glanced over, and could tell from his gaze that he didn’t want her to start anything else, that she should just let Rick handle it, and she had to bite her tough to keep herself from talking.

“Gareth, we can wait.” Alex claimed, and Alice wondered what the hell they were supposed to be waiting for.

“Shut up, Alex.” Gareth ordered.

“You…” Rick said, as turned to Gareth and added, “…talk to me.”

“What's there left to say? You don't trust us anymore.” Gareth said, calmly. His hands glued together in the front of him. “Rick, what do you want?” he asked.

         “Where are our people?” Rick demanded, as Alex began to struggle. No one could hear what Gareth said next over the commotion. Terminus’ people had started shooting at them from the tops of the buildings around them. Rick shot twice before running with the group. As they ran, the bullets always found a way in front of them, which caused them to turn a different direction. Finally, they reached an area where they heard cries for help, and banging sounds coming from somewhere in the distance.

“What the hell?” Daryl exclaimed.

“Keep going.” Rick yelled. They couldn’t help anyone else until they got out the situation they were in.

The group ran inside to a room with lit white candles littering shelves and the floor. All over the floor, people’s names were written, and random belongings were everywhere. On the walls were the words **NEVER AGAIN, NEVER TRUST,** and **WE ARE FIRST, ALWAYS**.

“What the hell is this place?” Darly inquired as they walked around.

“These people, I don't think they're trying to kill us.” Michonne said.

“No, they were aiming at our feet.” Rick replied.

“They’re herdin’ us like cattle!” Alice said as realization hit her.

They found an open door, and ran towards it on Rick’s command. Before they could get out, someone closed the door from the outside. They ran to their right, to another open door, and bullets chased them out to a clearing. One almost nipped Alice’s leg, making her run faster. The group found themselves surrounded from the roof tops.

“Drop your weapons! Now!” Gareth yelled from above them.

Defeated, everyone complied, putting their weapons on the ground. “Ringleader, go to your left. The train car, go!” Gareth barked, but Rick remained where he was. He didn’t want to leave his group, especially the children, alone. Gareth was having none of that. “You do what we say, the boy goes with you. Anything else, he dies and you end up in there anyway.”

Once again defeated, Rick walked over to the pink train car, before turning to look at his group, as Gareth continued to direct them. “Now the archer.”

“It’s a fuckin’ crossbow! How hard is that to understand!” Alice mumbled angrily, but not loud enough for Gareth to hear.

Daryl glanced at his daughter. He didn’t want to leave his daughter alone, either. “Same goes for you, archer,” Gareth said.

Alice turned her head to her dad and nodded. She wanted him to know that she was okay. With confirmation from his daughter, he went over to Rick, and stood behind him.

“Now, the samurai.” He announced, and without hesitation, Michonne marched to the spot behind Daryl as Gareth continued. “Stand at the door, ringleader, archer, samurai, in that order.”

Rick and Daryl both looked at their children, both terrified that one of these people would shoot them to make their group cooperate. “My son!” Rick howled.

Gareth eyed the boy and girl below. “Go, kid.” He ordered.

Carl and Alice shared a look before he walked, slowly, over to the line. Then, Daryl barked in a more aggressive tone, “My daughter! Now!”

“Alright! Keep your pants on.” Gareth rolled his eyes, and looked back at Alice. “Huntress, your turn.”

Alice trailed Carl slowly. The atmosphere gripped her shoulders and lifted them up in fear, as Gareth barked, “Ringleader, open the door and go in.”

“I'll go in with him.” Rick refused, nodding towards Carl.

“Don't make us kill him now.” Gareth insisted.

With that, Rick and his crew walked in the train car one by one. The door slammed shut behind them. It was dark and quiet until they heard an all too familiar voice.

“Rick?” Glenn asked, as he stepped forward from the shadows.

         Everyone turned to find Glenn, with Maggie and Noemi, emerging from the shadows, with a group of people behind him. Alice squinted to get a better view of a person she recognized. She remembered her. She was the one that she saw from under that jeep, who was talking to that one chick when things went awry. She couldn’t remember her name, though. That’s when she noticed that Irina wasn’t there. The dread of the worst-case scenario slithered into her mind, but she quickly shook it away. She knew she couldn’t give up on the thought of her being alive.

“You're here,” Rick said in disbelief, as he and Glenn walked towards each other. “You're here.” he repeated in shock, then he looked behind Glenn, to the group of people he didn’t know, a questioning look on his face.

“They're our friends. They helped save us.” Maggie said, reassuring him.

“Yeah. Now they're friends of ours.” Daryl replied.

“For however long, that'll be.” Noemi heard Abraham say from behind her.

Rick shook his head. “No.” he said, and everyone’s eyes fell on him as he moved to an opening that was only a slit. The white light shined through straight as a beam. “They're gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out.” he added.

There was a pause before Abraham interjected, “Find out what?”

Another long silence cut the air like a sword, Rick looked over to each person in the room, and said, “They're screwing with the wrong people.”

Noemi limped her way over to Alice, who was filled with relief and worry, and hugged her. As Alice's tightened her arms around her friend, she realized she had gotten taller. They had been apart too long. Noemi released herself from the embrace. “Where’s Irina?” she asked.

Alice flinched, “I…I don’t know.” she replied.

Noemi hung her head in defeat, she had hoped Irina would be with Alice, just as Alice had hoped she’d be with Noemi. Before Noemi could say anything, Alice spoke again. “But, that doesn’t mean anything. She could still be alive somewhere.” Alice explained, even as a sliver of doubt pricked the back at her brain. She tried her best to ignore it, but she knew that it wouldn’t go away.

        Immediately, everyone discussed what they had come across. Daryl with what happened with Irina and Beth, and Abraham explained what had happened when they arrived. Finally caught up, everyone came up with the idea to use pieces of their clothing, belts, zippers, anything they could, to fashion weapons. Noemi saw Rick cutting some wood on the side of the train car with a zipper, and she and Alice started to do the same. Outside, they heard the people in charge barking at each other. Daryl marched over to a crack in the wall to see what he could see. “Alright, got four of them pricks coming our way.” he said.

Rick walked, angrily, over to the door. “Y'all know what to do. Go for their eyes first. Then their throats.” he said.

Everyone was tense and ready for an attack, as they heard from outside of the train car, “Put your backs to the walls on either side of the car. Now.” They were expecting the door to open, and to pounce. The door opened alright, but it wasn’t the door they were looking at. A light had shone through the roof, as the top of the train car flew open, and a smoke bomb was dropped in.

“Move!” Abraham yelled, as he threw himself at the group to get them away, but it didn’t do much because the smoke entered their mouths, and filled their lungs.

      Before they could pull themselves together, they were dragged out of the portable building, and Rick was knocked out with a swift kick to the face by one of the captors. All of them were taken to a dirty, grimy room with a saw, and lined up at a silver bathtub, with both their hands and their feet bound together with a zip lock tie, and gags tied around their head to cover their mouths. Daryl was placed next to Rick, while Alice was placed on Daryl’s other side, Noemi next her, Glenn on Noemi’s left, and Bob at the end. There were other people lined up after Glenn, but no one knew who they were. Everyone turned their heads to the sound of metal slicing against metal. It had come from a man dressed in a clear apron and blue latex gloves, who seemed to be sharpening a sickle.

       Intensity was thick in the atmosphere as the man made his way over to the unknown blonde at the end. It was short lived as the man with the sickle sliced the blonde’s neck. Blood gushed and squirted into the tub. Everyone’s eyes went wide, and a few let out screams that were muffled by the cloth on their mouths. When the blonde was finally drained of all his blood, another man hit the black guy next to him with a silver bat, before the man with the sickle slit his throat, too. The men wasted no time as they did the same thing to the next guy. Scarlet red glided against the silver bottom of the tub to the small drain at the end.

Everyone started to panic as the men reached Glenn and Bob, but before the man with the bat could swing, Gareth came in with a black book in hand. “Hey, guys. What were your shot counts? 38.” He inquired, then boasted, throwing his number out. Then, clearly angry that no one had answered him, he added, “Hey! Your shot count?!”

The two men finally stopped to look at Gareth, and lowered their bat and sickle. Then, they looked at each other, trying to search for an answer that they clearly did not find. “Uhhh, sorry. This is my first round up.” the man with the sickle said.

“After you're done here, go back to your point and count the shells. Kaylee won't be gathering them until tomorrow.” Gareth ordered.

          Bob took this opportunity to try to reach out to Gareth. He called out to him four times before he finally answered. With his gag lowered, Bob pleaded for them not to do this, but Gareth was unmoved, refused, and put the gag back in his mouth. Then, he crouched in front of Rick, and took his gag off. “We saw you go into the woods with a bag and come out without it. Had to pull my spotters back before we could go look for it. What was in it? You hid it, right? In case things went bad?” He paused as Rick defiantly refused to answer, then he looked at Daryl, and added, “Smart. Still, we'll find it. But, it's too dangerous to go out there right now.”

Annoyed at the continued lack of answers, Gareth grabbed Bob by the neck, pulled him closer to him, unsheathed his long knife, and placed it by his face. “What was in it? I’m curious, and it was a big bag.” Gareth inquired again, tilting his head to look Rick in the eye. “You’re really going to make me do this?” he asked, when Rick still didn’t say anything.

“Let me take you out there. I’ll show you.” Rick finally said, determination flooding his voice.

“That’s not going to happen but this might.” Gareth said, as he shook his head, and lowered Bob closer to the knife, the point of the blade aimed at his eye.

“There's guns in it. AK-47. .44 Magnum. Automatic weapons. A night-scope. There's a compound bow, and a machete with a red handle. That's what I'm gonna use to kill you.” Rick said, as Alice glanced at him, and thought about how nice it would be to see that asshole taken down by her machete.

With a chuckle and a sigh, Gareth sheathed his knife. and placed the gag back in Rick’s mouth. Then, he thanked him, and Alice overheard him saying to one of his men, “You have two hours to get them on the driers. I’m going back to public face. Now’s the time we can get messy, but we need to dial in by sundown.”

As he walked away, multiple gunshots and an explosion drew everything to a halt. While everyone was distracted, Rick managed to get free and kill both guards. Then, he ran back over to get Glenn, Daryl, Noemi, and Alice free. “If they got problems, then we have a chance.” Rick said, as he cut Glenn’s restrains.

“Sounded like a bomb.” Glenn replied, as he pulled the gag from his mouth.

“Sounds like a damn war.” Daryl exclaimed.

“Ya got that right!” Alice answered.

Rick pointed to a table with weapons on it, “Right there.” he stated.

“What the hell are these people?!” Bob exclaimed, as Daryl and Glenn went towards the table.

Daryl grabbed a knife, and Glenn grabbed a gun. “They ain't people.” Daryl said, as he walked over to a dying man on a table to take him out.

Rick stopped him with an order. “Don’t. Let him turn.”

As they walked into the next room, they saw human torsos hanging from hooks and bloody body parts everywhere. Alice covered her mouth with her hand, she had thought she had seen it all, but this sight had proven her wrong. Noemi’s eyes widened in shock. These people were eating each other! They were disgusting and inhuman!

“Cross any of these people, you kill ‘em. Don’t hesitate.” Rick said in disgust as he looked at one of the pieces of human flesh. “They won’t.” he added.

Then, as they heard more gunfire and men shouting, the group decided that they needed to free the other people from the train cars, and fought through a ton of walkers to do so. Rick and Alice made their way to the train car that held Carl, Maggie, Abraham, Tara, Sasha, and Eugene. As he threw open the door Rick yelled, “Come on! Fight to the fence!”

        The rest of the group broke out of the train car, through the walkers and over the fence. As the group walked through woods on the outskirts of the flaming Terminus, Alice saw Daryl look up just in time to see Carol walking through the trees. She smiled when her father ran over and pulled Carol into the tightest, most relieved hug she had seen since he had been reunited with her.

Then, as Daryl let go, Rick walked up to Carol, and with amazement on his face he inquired, “Did you do that?”

With tears in her eyes, Carol nodded. Without a second though, Rick pulled her into a hug to welcome her back. “Thank you.” he said.

As they pulled apart, Carol said, “You have to come with me.”

        They walked for miles through the woods, before they finally came across a cabin. As they got closer, they saw Tyreese walk out the door, Judith in his arms. Rick and Carl ran up to Judith and took her in their arms. They hugged her with tears in their eyes, shocked, but overjoyed that she was alive. Not ten feet away from them, Tyreese and Sasha hugged, too, thrilled that they had also found each other alive, and it was a happy reunion all around.

After pulling himself together, Rick stared back at Terminus and said, “I don’t know if the fire is still burning.” he said.

“It is.” Carol replied, confidently.

“Yeah we need to go.” Rick replied.

“Yeah, but where?” Daryl questioned.

“Somewhere far away from there.” Rick responded, tilting his head towards the smoke coming from Terminus.

Then, finally mostly reunited, the group made their way back down the train tracks, and Rick stopped to mark out the sign for Terminus. He smudged out everything in blood, everything except Sanctuary. Sanctuary he left untouched, but above it, he simply wrote ‘No’. As the group pushed forward, not really sure where they were heading, Noemi wondered where Irina was, and hoped that she as okay.


	30. Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Twenty-Nine

 

Irina could feel the cold tile floor beneath her, nibbling at her skin, as her eyes fluttered open to a ceiling with dim lights. Old tear streaks stained her lovely pale face, blood covered her pale blue scrubs and skin like a blanket, and her hair was sprawled on the floor with just a small nub at the end still held by her ponytail holder. As she turned her head, she could see the same hospital beds, the same curtains, the same everything that she had seen for the past few months. She hated this, hated that she was stuck on this stupid walker infested floor because of Kyle, and his obsession with her.

Kyle was about Glenn’s age, with crow-colored hair, and light brown eyes. He seemed nice, but it didn’t take long for Irina to find out that he was far from it, in fact it quickly became obvious that he was a total creep. He hit on her constantly after she had arrived, and it didn’t seem to phase him that she was so much younger than him, or that she wasn’t ready for what he wanted, especially not with someone she barely knew, who was already proving to be an asshole.

 He had lured her into a false sense of security when they made a temporary truce during a night watch. He had apologized for making her feel uncomfortable, and given her drink. The drink must have had something in it because the next thing she remembered, she came to on a gurney, her hands and feet bound to the poles with rope.

    Kyle had kept her tied to that bed for weeks. During week one, he told her he would untie her if she agreed to love him, which she had refused to do. She didn’t love him, and she wasn’t going to pretend to. Once she had refused, he began to cut her with a scalpel, and continued to cut every time she upset him.

       During week two, she had found out that he had been a part of a group called he called The Claimers before he was taken to the hospital. Then he told her about his first love. Her name was Janet. He told Irina that they had met in school, and that she had played hard to get for a while, but that hadn’t stopped him. As he talked, a terrifying realization had come over her. Janet. That had been the name of the girl in that diary she had found, and everything about Kyle was exactly how she had described her stalker. The knowledge hit Irina like a ton of bricks. The guy who had her, who refused to leave her alone, was the same guy that had followed Janet, and suddenly she was more afraid than ever.

       During week three, he had told her that the only two friends she had in the hospital weren’t going to come looking for her because he had told them that one of the dead had gotten her while she was trying to run away from the hospital. He had told them that she didn’t make it, and that all that was left was her precious jacket. All through week four, all he did was talk about how he wasn’t like his dad. His dad would have just forced himself on her already. Kyle said he wasn’t like that. He wanted permission, and for her to want him back, but Irina still refused, which led to another cut from the scalpel, this time on her forehead.

      Thankfully, when week five hit, her luck had gone from nothing to maximum. Kyle had finally been away long enough for her to jerk and tug on the gurney until the old, rusty sides had broken, letting one of her hands free. She untied her other hand, then her feet, and within minutes she was making her way through the walker-infested hospital floor. He had lost his mind when he came back to find her gone, and every night since then, he would stalk the grimy halls trying to find her. She would hide whenever she heard his voice, or heard him moving around. She was weak, and she didn’t have any weapons to defend herself, but like her brother, she was quick on her feet. However, her swiftness could not escape the insanity that was slowly becoming her go-to comfort, and that frightened her.

     As she hid, Irina let her mind drift to simpler times, times before the hospital. Hell, even when she had first gotten there, it was a better time than what she was dealing with now. She had Beth and Noah, at least. Noah was an African-American guy, a little older than her, that she had met during lunch, and talked to for about a week or so before Kyle had taken her. She missed her friends, and she wished she could just leave this damned floor, and this God-forsaken hospital, but she had only been there for about three weeks before she was kidnapped, and she barely knew this place.

Suddenly, a voice echoed off the walls in the distance, “Iriiiiiinnna,where are you?”

     Irina’s eyes widened as she glanced at the door. He was back, and she had to keep moving. She quickly got to her feet, and quietly made her way out the door. She slowed her breath to steady herself. As she reached a corner, she checked to make sure he wasn’t there, but as leaned around, she could see him at the end of the dimly lit hallway.

      Irina quickly pulled her head back behind the wall, as Kyle turned down another hallway, still calling her name. She spotted a door to her right, and quietly ran for it. Careful not to make a sound, she slipped inside the room, shut the door, and took a deep, but silent breath. As she was listening to make sure her captor hadn’t heard her, she heard a muffled gargling sound, and turned around to see a walker, it’s skin half gone and it’s body rotting, coming right for her. She dodged out of the way as it lunged for her, grabbed the IV pole, and swung at the infected’s head. As the walker fell with a thud, she lifted the pole, and smashed it into his head, again and again, until brains and blood covered the floor.

            Out of breath, Irina threw the pole on the ground and it landed with a clink. She jumped, and clenched her jaw when she realized just how loud it had been.

            “Irina, I can hear you!” Kyle sang, causing Irina’s blood to run cold.

            “Shit! That sounded close.” Irina whispered to herself, as she whipped her head around to find an exit. Her eyes rested on the only way out she could see, a window. In a flash, Irina ran over to it, pushed it up, and placed her hands on the ledge outside. She trembled as she heard Kyle’s footsteps getting closer. She looked down and realized that she was on the third floor, but she had no time to think, only do. She stepped out onto the ledge, and side-stepped out of sight.

            The cool, crisp night air brushed against her skin. The ledge was barely wide enough for her feet, and other than the window she had climbed through, and a flagpole next to it, there was nothing but smooth wall. The sweat on Irina’s forehead increased, and she glued herself to the bricks as she heard Kyle entering the room. She could hear him checking the room, and his frustrated grunt when he couldn’t find her. She let out a sigh of relief when he left without so much as a glance out of the window, and she began to tip-toe her way back, but she lost her footing.

            Her weight felt as light as a feather as she thrashed about, trying to grab onto anything that she could. Her hand hooked onto something metal, and she steadied her breathing as she looked up to see the flagpole she had spotted earlier. Her hands and skin were wet with fear as she looked down at the deserted parking lot. Her mind began to race with thoughts of falling and death, and she started to feel like there was no way out of this.

           Tears started to run down her face as she thought about everything that had led her here. Memories of her family and friends played in her head. The memory of meeting Alice, and how that had eventually brought her back to her brother, the memory of hiding in the attic with Noemi after the world started to end, until Jenny found them, and then suddenly a random memory of Jenny, driving Irina to the gymnastics camp she had gone to every summer.

            That was it. Gymnastics! She lifted her head to look at the pole she was holding onto. It wasn’t that different from the one she used to flip around all those summers ago. A new hope flew through her. Inspired, she gripped the pole firmly, and began to slowly swing her body back and forth. When she felt confident enough, she used all her strength, swung back, and pulled herself up until her pelvis was even with the pole. She took a deep breath, and began to lift her knees slowly, until they finally rested on the pole. She lifted herself again, pulling her knees in, and placing her feet on the pole before. She knew the next part was going to be the hardest, but there was no going back. With another deep breath, she let go, and with a slow and steady breath, she straightened her legs. She slid her feet along the cold steel, and after what felt like an eternity, she made it back to the ledge, and shuffled her way to the open window. As she climbed inside, she let herself fall to the floor with relief.

            Irina’s relief quickly faded when she heard Kyle yelling, “You’re here somewhere, Irina! I’ll recheck every room if I have to!”

            Panic set in as Irina looked around the room. All she knew for sure was that she definitely wasn’t going back out that window. The closet was the only other option. She slipped inside, and quietly pulled the door shut. As she looked around the enclosed space, she noticed a few broken wire-hangers on the floor, and a shelf above her head with a few extra sheets and pillows on it. She could hear his footsteps getting closer, and with every step she heard, her fear grew.

            Ten steps, she decided the shelf was her best bet. Nine steps, she grabbed it, and pulled herself up. Eight steps, she moved behind the pillows and sheets. Seven steps, she noticed that the shelf was slanted, and moved as far to the back as she could, putting herself lower than the, already small, stack of bedding. Six steps, he called her name again. Five steps, Kyle opened the door to her room. Four steps, she forced herself to quiet her breathing as she hoped her plan would work. Three steps, he opened the closet door. Two steps, he stepped into the closet, kicking one of the broken hangers as he moved. One step, he moved forward, and pushed aside the pillows, but thankfully didn’t see her.  Frustrated, he closed the closet door and looked around the rest of the room. It felt like an eternity before the menace left, and she heard him yell in the distance. “It’s morning, and I’m already late, but don’t think I won’t be back!”

            Even though she knew Kyle had left to head downstairs for his normal shift, Irina waited a few minutes before moving. She exhaled the air she hadn’t realized she was holding in, and sat up.  Then, she hung her right leg over the edge of the shelf, and prepared herself to jump down, but her hand found a dip in the wood, and she lost her balance. She landed on the floor with a hard thump, and felt a sharp, stabbing pain in her left thigh. She pulled herself into a seated position, rested against the wall, and looked at her leg. A hook from one of the broken hangers was deeply curved into her skin.

            “Ah, fuck!” Irina grunted softly, as she realized that even if she could get the hook out, she was going to need stitches, and since she wasn’t sure how long it would be before she was able to have it stitched up, she decided to leave the hook where it was so she wouldn’t bleed out.

          Irina let her head rest against the wall, as she looked above her. She saw the sheets on the shelf, and decided that she should probably wrap her leg up so that the hook was at least secure until she could get it out. She took a deep breath and tried to stand, but the pain from the weight on her leg was too intense, and she had to cover her mouth to muffle her scream. As she took her hand away from her mouth, she made a decision. If she had any hope of getting through this, and away from Kyle, she was going to have to get up, wrap her leg, and find some pain pills.

            Irina dragged her body over to the door, clutched the silver handle, and hoisted herself up. Leaning on the wall for support, she reached up, pulled down a sheet, and ripped a piece off. She used the torn sheet to wrap her leg the best that she could, put most of her weight on her right leg, listened at the door for any sounds, but all she heard was silence. She winced as she leaned down to pluck a broken hanger from the floor to use as a weapon, and slowly made her way out of the closet, then the room.

            Irina limped around the abandoned floor of Grady Memorial until she came across a room with a bed and two chairs. She pushed one of the chairs against the door, just in case. She hobbled over to the bed, noticed a scalpel on the table next to it, and placed the new weapon under the pillow. She dropped onto the bed and closed her eyes. She laid there for the longest time, but sleep refused to come. She sighed, looked around the room, and noticed a door to the right of the entrance.

            She gently pulled herself out of the bed, made her way to the door, and pulled it open to reveal an eggshell colored bathroom. She rummaged through the cabinets, and found a bottle labeled Hydrocodone-pain reliever. Without a second thought, she opened the bottle, turned on the sink, and popped a pill into her mouth. She limped back out of the bathroom, and lowered herself into the chair in front of the door to wait. She decided that once the pain started to lessen, she would make her move. She knew that her best chance to get away was while Kyle was busy working.

            It only took a little while before the pain in Irina’s leg was manageable enough for her to stand without wanting to cry. She grabbed the scalpel from under the pillow, moved the chair, and made her way through the halls again. Turning a corner, she ran right into a walker. As it grabbed at her, she dodged to the left, swiftly kicked the back of it’s knees until it fell on the floor, and jammed her scalpel into it’s head. Dusting herself off, she noticed a rat moving along the wall to her left, and a broken broom stick to her right. She wasn’t proud of it, but the sight made her realize that she hadn’t eaten in days. Before she could talk herself out of it, she picked up the broom stick, and jammed it through the middle of the rat.

            Irina slid down the wall, and without thinking about it, began to eat the dead rat. Once she choked most of it down, she stared at the destroyed rat and began to cry. She couldn’t believe this was seriously what her life had become, and she didn’t know how much longer she could live like this. Anger and disgust consumed her as she threw the rat on the ground. It made a splat sound when it landed, and blood smeared onto the tile around it.

            She looked at the scalpel on the floor next to her, and let horrible thoughts fill her head, thoughts about how she could just end everything now. None of her friends were even looking for her, they already thought she was dead. She still didn’t have a clue how to get out anyway. Kyle was never going to stop until she decided to love him, and she’d rather die than do that. As she lifted the blade, she heard a voice call out her name. It was too feminine to be Kyle, but no one else had ever been on that floor.

            “Irina.” she heard again, and this time, she recognized the voice…but it was impossible.

          Irina looked up to see if what she heard was indeed what she was refusing to believe, and she couldn’t believe her eyes. Jenny, her dead sister, looking as healthy as she did the night before she was killed, was sitting cross-legged on the walker that Irina had killed moments before. She was twirling a necklace attached to the infected’s body. Irina’s heart stopped, and her blood ran cold at the sight. She knew there was no way this was happening. Her sister was dead. She knew she had finally lost it.

Despite her disbelief, she stuttered, “Jenny…?”

Irina watched as Jenny’s gaze rose to meet her own. Still playing with the chain, she spoke. “Hey, long time no see, eh?”

            “No. No, you’re not here. You…you died. A walker bit you. You’re just a figment of my imagination. Those pills! It has to be the pills. They must have been stronger than I thought.” Irina rationalized.

            “Thanks for stating the obvious. I absolutely love being reminded.” Jenny said with a smirk, sarcasm dripping from her lips.

            “Oh, umm, right. Sorry?” Irina stuttered.

            “No worries, sis.” Jenny replied

            “How are you here?” Irina inquired. “Are you a ghost?”

            “I guess I could be.” Jenny replied, with a wink.

            “What do you want then?” Irina questioned calmly.

            “What do you mean?” Jenny asked.

            “Mom always said that when someone’s ghost comes back, it’s because they have unfinished business so what do you want?” Irina asked again.

            “Actually, I just came to ask you something.” Jenny replied.

            “Really? What could you possibly need to ask me?” Irina gasped. Suddenly, the calm peaceful aura that arrived with Jenny had evaporated, and was replaced with a dark and heavy rain cloud ready pour down on Irina’s shoulders with all it’s might.

            “What are you doing?” Jenny asked in an irritated tone.

            “What do you mean, ‘what am I doing?’” Irina asked, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

            “Oh, don’t give me that. You know exactly what I’m talking about.” Jenny replied harshly, before pointing at Irina’s hand and adding, “The scalpel!”

Irina looked down at the scalpel in her hand, her thoughts going back to her plan.

            “Yeah, that. Glad we’re on the same page.” Jenny replied.

            “How did you know what I was thinking?” Irina inquired as her gaze shifted back to her sister.

            “That’s not important. Now, what were you doing?” Jenny inquired.

            “I…” Irina bit her lip, this was not a conversation she had planned to have. “I don’t know what else to do! I can’t keep living like this, Jenny!” she added, louder than she had planned.

             “Wrong! You can do it! I’ve seen you fight before! You’ve fought the infected with Alice and Noemi when I wasn’t around. You’ve held your own with people twice your age! If anyone can get out of this, it’s you! Besides, what do you think this would do to Glenn and Noemi?! I’m already gone…do you think they could really handle losing you, too?! Especially knowing that you just gave up?! Are you really just going to throw your whole life away over some asshole who can’t take no for an answer?”

            “I can’t keep hiding like this! I almost died last night! I have a hanger in my leg! I was eating a fucking rat before you showed up! I just can’t do it!” Irina cried, shaking her head.

            “I guess I came for nothing then. Just remember you’re not just ending your life, you’re stealing it from the people that love you.” Jenny said, sadness filling her voice. Then, just like that, she was gone.

            “Jenny?” Irina whimpered. “Jenny! Please! Don’t leave me here!” I’m sorry! I won’t kill myself! Just please don’t leave me again!”

            Tears ran down Irina’s face as she let what had just happened play over and over in her head. Trying to calm herself, she remembered that Jenny had been playing with a necklace that was around that walker’s neck. She took a deep breath, wiped the tears from her face, and crawled over to the dead walker. She picked up the necklace to inspect it. It had a pedentant that rotated in the middle, with a stationary circle around it. The words _‘Live, Laugh, Love’_ were on the part that was still, and on the rotating part, the word _‘HOPE’_ was huge, and bold, in the center. She flipped it over and found a message that said, _“In the sky, there are stars. In their light, is hope. Don’t let your light burn out.”_

            Tears filled Irina’s eyes again, but this time, they were tears of hope and love. Somewhere, deep down, she knew that, it didn’t matter whether Jenny had been a ghost, or just her mind playing tricks on her. She had come to her to give her hope, and for the first time in a long time, she felt it.

            “Thanks, sis.” Irina whispered, as she took the necklace off of the walker, and put in on her neck.

            Irina picked up her scalpel, and headed down the hallway. She was not giving up just yet. She didn’t know how she was going to get out of all of this, but she knew she would. She wondered the halls aimlessly, trying to formulate a plan, until she stumbled into a room that she knew all too well. It was the room where Kyle had held her captive. The room where he had kept her tied down, and cut her every time she had fought him. She scanned the room with a fiery glare. Hatred resurfaced in her. Hatred for Kyle, hatred for everything that he had done to her, and hatred for everything she was forced to do because of him.

            As she looked around, she noticed a pistol placed on the gray counter. She limped to it rapidly, refusing to waste any time. She picked it up, pressed the magazine release, and sighed with relief as she saw the five bullets that were still inside. It didn’t take her long to come up with a plan. All she had to do was wait, and she wouldn’t even have to do that very long. It was already getting dark. Kyle would be back soon.

            Irina heard the door from the stairs slam shut, and within seconds, Kyle was calling her name. Normally, that was her cue to run and hide, but she wasn’t running anymore. She walked a few feet behind him, aiming the gun at his head. “Kyle!” she hollered, her anger rising as Kyle turned to face her.

            “Ah, Irina, there you are. I’ve missed you. Now, come with me. We have much to discuss.” he said with a smirk.

            “What do you want to talk about? How disgusting you are? I already got that! Or, did you want to talk about how much I hate you?” she replied.

            Kyle put a hand over his heart, and pretended like an arrow just shot through his chest. “Ouch! That hurt, Irina. Look around, there isn’t that much to pick from.  You might as well pick me. Which reminds me, have you changed your mind?”

            “I’d rather die than be with you!” Irina hissed.

            “Again, ouch.” He huffed, before rolling his eyes and adding, “I guess you can that make up to me when we’re finally together.”

            “Fuck you.” Irina said, clenched her teeth with repulsion.

            “Fine, have it your way.” he replied before he started walking towards her. Irina pulled the trigger, and Kyle flinched as a loud crashing sound rang out from behind him.

            “You know, you really should have better aim than that by now. I mean it’s been a few years since the world ended.” he said with a chuckle.

            “I wasn’t aiming at you, dumbass!” Irina growled.

            “What?” he asked, then he whipped around as a hoard of walkers poured into their hallway. Kyle turned toward his attention back to her, as she took a few steps back. “Irina give me the gun! I can get us out of this! Throw me the gun, and get in the stairwell!”

          Irina looked at the hoard, then did as he said. While Kyle tried to shoot at them, Irina ran to the stairs as fast as she could, opened the door, and turned to face him again. She watched as he pulled the trigger. Confusion swept over him. He pulled the trigger again, and again, but it wasn’t firing, there was just a series of clicks. A small wave of satisfaction hit Irina as he pushed on the magazine release, looked inside, and, instead of bullets, found a folded piece of paper that read, _**“Rot with them, asshole.”**_

            He looked up just in time to see a walker’s face right in front of his, and he stumbled back a couple of steps, before he tripped and fell to the ground. Walkers swarmed him and tore into his flesh, and screams of agony filled the air.    

       Irina’s expression remained emotionless as she listened to him scream. With a sigh of relief, she closed her hand around the four bullets she had been holding, and ducked into the stairwell. As she limped on, a twinge of guilt hit her, but she shook her head and tried to remind herself that he wasn’t worth feeling guilty over.

            She hobbled down the stairs until she reached the door with a ‘2’ beside it, and pulled it open. She crept through the halls, and finally spotted an empty room. She made her way to the bed, flopped onto it, and closed her eyes. Once again, sleep eluded her. All of the training she had done to stay awake and alert while she was hiding from Kyle, made it difficult to let herself relax. When night fell, and she still couldn’t sleep, she decided it was time to figure out her next move. She made her way to the door, looked through the small window, and couldn’t believe her eyes. Noah, in his green scrubs, and navy blue and red jacket, was walking down the hallway.

            Irina’s mouth dropped open, and her heartbeat raced. Someone she knew was within her reach. She let out a small laugh, and tears of happiness rolled down her cheeks. She took a deep breath, wiped her eyes, and quietly opened the door. She poked her head around the frame and whispered, “Psst, Noah! Noah!”

            Noah looked around, but it was obvious he couldn’t tell where the whispers were coming from, so Irina whispered again, louder. “Noah! Over here!”

            Noah finally looked in her direction, surprise covering his face, and she smiled as he quickly made his way over. She backed up to let him in, and before he could say anything, she hugged him. She knew she had only known him a week before everything happened, and that it was probably a little awkward for him, but she didn’t care. She was out, and he was there, and that was good enough for her.

            As Noah returned the awkward hug, clearly willing to comfort her, something popped into Irina’s head, and she pulled back. “Why are you here? Don’t you usually have the day shift? I thought the night shift was Beth’s?” Irina asked as she looked him over, and noticed that his face was bruised.

            “She did, but Dawn made us switch shifts when Beth mixed up the medication for a patient, and accidentally killed them. I took the blame so she wouldn’t get hit with the brunt end of everything. Not long after that, Kyle broke the news that you ran away and got killed.” Noah explained.

            Irina bit her lip as she remembered everything that had happened with Kyle, and she gripped the necklace that she found earlier to assure herself she was going to be okay. Irina’s focus switched back to Noah as he began to speak again.

“Almost everyone believed him, but Beth and I didn’t. We knew we had to look for you, but Beth was being watched too closely, so I went, but obviously I didn’t have much luck. Where were you?” he said.

            Irina’s brown eyes threatened to overflow again. She knew her friends wouldn’t believe that she would just run away and leave them. She explained everything to Noah, from Kyle kidnapping her, to her escaping, but she lied about how Kyle died. She wasn’t ready to talk, or even think, about what she had done. She was still conflicted about whether or not she was a murderer, and she wasn’t ready for her friend to look at her like she was.

            “Kyle…that bastard. I’m so sorry that happened to you.” he apologized.

                “It’s fine. He’s dead now.” Irina said grimly, unable to meet Noah’s gaze.

            “How bad is that wound you mentioned?” Noah asked, his head cocked to the side.

                “From what I saw the last time I looked, it needed stitches.” She answered, glancing at her leg as she added, “Why?”

            “Because, I know how to stitch up a wound. I’m gonna go get the stuff. You…uh, stay here.” he ordered before slinking out of the room.

            Her mind wondered as she sat back on the bed and waited, and she zoned out. A pinging sound on the floor beside her pulled her back to reality, and she glanced down to see the golden bullets that had slipped from her hand. Her face twitched with unease as she stared at them. Not wanting to think about Kyle anymore, Irina jumped off the bed, grabbed the bullets, slammed them down on the shelf near her, and sat back down. Her mind filled with plans again. Once she was fixed up, she was going to have to talk with her friends, and come up with a way out of the hellhole they were stuck in.

            It didn’t take Noah long to make it back with the supplies. He placed everything on the shelf, glanced at the bullets, and picked them up to examine them. “Huh, where did these come from?” he asked.

               “They’re mine.” Irina said, and she flinched as she wondered how she was going to explain them.

            “Yours? Where did you get them?” Noah inquired with a raised eyebrow.

   “A gun.” Irina replied, biting the inside of her lip.

 “Where did you get a gun?” Noah asked, his suspicion growing.

            Irina’s mind raced, but as she swept away an image of Kyle, she settled on an excuse, “Kyle was dumb enough to leave it behind, and I took it, but the damn thing broke on me in the middle of taking out some walkers, so I kept the bullets and tossed the gun.”

            Noah could obviously tell that she wasn’t comfortable talking about Kyle, so he just nodded, placed the bullets back on the counter, and grabbed the medical supplies. “Can you take that cloth off, so I can see how bad it is?” he asked.

            Irina did as he asked, and Noah started to look over the wound. After a moment, he looked at her with a slightly awkward expression on his face. “Is something wrong?” she asked.

            “Uh…nah. It’s just, to get this thing out, I kind of need you to, uh…I need more room to work.” he stammered out as he made motions with his hands as if he was tearing something.

            “Oh, okay.” Irina replied, before she yanked the pale blue scrubs apart.

            “Alright. This is going to hurt a little.” Noah said. Then, without giving her too much time to worry about it, he started to pull the broken hanger from her leg.

            “Son of a...” Irina said through gritted teeth as she closed her eyes and held her breath until he was done.

            “There. Now let’s get this cleaned, and stitched up.” Noah said, and he went to work.

            Irina studied the boy in front of her while he rubbed alcohol on her wound. She wondered what he and Beth had been doing while she was gone, and realized she wasn’t even sure how long she had actually be gone. The time spent in the hospital seemed so long to her. Her mind went to Glenn, Noemi, Alice, and the others. She wondered what they were doing right now, if they had found each other liked she had hoped they would, and if they missed her as much as she missed them.

            Tears formed in her eyes, and Noah’s movement halted. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

            “It’s my family, my group.” Irina whimpered. “I miss them so much. I haven’t seen most of them since the place we were staying fell apart. It’s been forever. I just want to get back them.” she explained while she wiped the tears coming from her eyes.

            Noah grabbed her hand and said, “I know the feeling. I’ve been planning to bust out of here for a long time. If you want, you can come with.”

            Irina’s breath stopped in her chest. The thought of finally escaping the hellhole they had been stuck in filled her with hope. “I’ll go. I’ll definitely go.”

            “Hey Noah…“a voice rang out from around the corner, and Beth stopped in her tracks as she saw a disheveled Irina sitting in her chair. A huge smile grew on her face, and within seconds she had pulled Irina into a hug. “Irina! I’m so sorry for the things I said before we got here, and for giving you a hard time! I’m so glad you’re okay!”

            “It’s okay. I’m sorry, too.” Irina replied with a sigh.

            As Beth pulled out of the hug, she noticed Irina’s leg, and gasped. “Oh my God! What happened?”

            Noah finished stitching her up, as Irina, once again, recapped what went on between her and Kyle, minus the part about her killing him.

            “That asshole. I knew something was wrong with him. I’m sorry that happened to you.” Beth said, sadness and anger fighting to fill her voice.

            “It’s fine. He’s gone now.” Irina replied coldly. Then, she remembered that Beth had been saying something when she walked in. “What were you about to say when you first came in?”

            “Oh right! I was about to tell Noah that I was going with him.” Beth explained.

            “Seriously?” he asked.

            Beth nodded, then she looked at Irina, “Are you coming, too?”

            Irina let out a hearty chuckle, “Hell yes!”

            “Okay, but we’re going to need a plan. Basement is the fastest way out, but any noise, and we got runners.” he explained.

            “Then, we won’t make noise.” Beth reassured him.

            “I can keep an eye on Dawn. She keeps a spare key to the elevator bank in her office. You think you can find it?” he inquired, and Beth nodded once again.

            “Wait, what do you want me to do?” Irina requested.

            “You can wait by the elevator. Since everyone thinks you’re dead, it would be a bad decision to try to help us out here. Who knows what would happen if anyone, especially Dawn, saw you.” Noah replied.

            Irina thought about it for a second, she really wanted to help them, but if she did, and she got caught, there really was no telling what they would do to her. They could be pretty ruthless when they were angry, she knew that. Noah’s face didn’t get that way from being beaten by a door. “You’re right. That’s out best bet.”

            Noah had explained to Irina that there was a closet near the elevator, and that it would be best for her to be hidden while she waited. So, she had made her way there, and slipped inside. She hated every second she was there. She had been forced to hide in closets way too long on the third floor, and now she was stuck doing it again. She clenched her teeth, and prayed for her friends to be quick.        

         After what felt like an eternity, Beth opened the door, and Irina saw Noah, who was holding a large blue bag with white sheets hanging out of it. On her way out of the closet, Irina grabbed a pair of long, sharp scissors. As they made it to the elevator, both Beth and Irina looked down the shaft, and saw that the ground below was filled with discarded, mushy walkers. When they look back at each other, their expressions portrayed nothing but worry.

            “You guys ready?” Noah asked.

            “Yeah.” they both replied in unison.

            Noah tossed the tied-up sheets around Beth and said, “When you feel safe, start climbing.”

            On her cue, Irina and Noah sat down and lowered Beth carefully down the elevator shaft. Once Beth made it to the floor below, Noah pulled the sheets up, wrapped them around Irina, and followed the same motions. Irina landed on the side of the elevator that was facing Beth.

            “You okay?” Beth asked.

            “Yeah, I’m fine.” Irina responded.

            When they were steady, Noah tried to climb down, but a walker caught him from the wall, and made him fall down with a thud, a scream escaping his lips.

            “Noah! Are you okay?!” Irina shouted.

            “Yeah, I’m fine.” he whimpered as he rolled around in the walker mush.

            Irina and Beth jumped down, landing on either side of Noah. The three of them crawled through the mush, looking for a way out, but it was dark and damp everywhere they turned. At one point, Noah was caught by another walker, and Irina stabbed it in the head with the scissors she had snatched from the closet. As they crawled, more and more walkers poured in around them, but they fought through each and every one. When they finally broke through the walls and made their way outside of the hospital, they ran into even more walkers, and as they fought their way through them, Irina and Beth noticed that Noah was falling behind, his limp from the crash when he was brought to the hospital was hindering him.

            “Beth!” Irina called. “You clear the way behind him! I’ll clear the front.”

            “Got it!” Beth hollered as she shot a walker.

            Irina and Noah ran through the hoard, assuming that Beth was behind them, but when they made it outside of the fence, they turned and saw that Beth was being held down by security. Without a second thought, Irina tried to squeeze back in, but Noah yanked her back.

            “What are you doing!? We have save Beth!” Irina yelled.

            “And, we can, but we can’t do it alone! Come on!” Noah reasoned as he grabbed her hand, and ran away from the hospital. As they ran, Irina’s mind raced. She could have sworn Beth had smiled as she watched them leave her behind. She didn’t know if Beth was happy they had made it out, or if she had just given up, but that smile disturbed her.

            “I can’t believe we did it.” Noah said in between breaths, once they finally made it a safe distance from the hospital.

            “Neither can I!” Irina huffed, then after a long pause she added, “So, how are we going to get Beth back?”

            “I…I don’t know.” Noah replied honestly.

            “Well, we can’t just leave her there.” Irina said. Then, suddenly, she had an idea. “Daryl! We can try to find Daryl, and the others, and go back with them, get Beth, and we’ll all look for a new home somewhere!”

            As Irina jumped up with false new-found energy, Noah noticed that she had popped a stitch, and her leg was bleeding. “Irina wait! You’re bleeding!” he called.

            “Huh, that must have been what that tingling feeling was while I was running.” Irina replied as she examined her leg.

            “Here, let me take a look at it.” Noah said as he got up off the log and crouched down in front of her. He inspected it, before adding, “Some of the stitches must have popped from the strain. We’re going to need to find something to close it back up.”

            “Okay. We’ll keep an eye out along the way.” Irina said with determination. Irina started to walk, but Noah grabbed her wrist.

            “Woah, woah, woah! Wait a minute! You can’t just start a journey like this with a reopened wound!” Noah said hurriedly.

            “Why not?” she asked, frustrated.

            “Because, if we don’t close it back up and rest it, it won’t heal right. Trust me, you don’t want to have to deal with that. Plus, it could cause more damage than it’s worth.” Noah explained.

            “Okay so what do we do?” Irina asked, her annoyance fading into comprehension.

            “Well, first, we find a place to rest and regroup, and then we can figure it out from there. Alright?” Noah replied.

            “Okay. Sounds like a plan.” she said.

            They walked around the forest for what seemed like hours on end until, finally, they found a cottage in the middle of the woods. Irina waited outside as Noah checked for any walkers that might be lurking in the depths of the cabin. As she waited, with her back against the umber wood and her arms folded over her chest, she began to feel pain from her wound. At first, it was dull push, but once they got inside the small house, it felt like a knife was stabbing her leg over and over.

            “Alright. It’s clear.” Noah announced.

            Irina hobbled into the small living room after Noah. She looked around, and tried to take it all in. The walls were sanded brown panels, and next to a blue couch with detachable cushions, there was a ladder that lead to an upper part of the room, like a loft, with a bed. On the other side of the room was a table with a set of chairs, and on the table, was a small TV, a package of needles, and wax floss, and the floor was covered with a teal wool rug, and a welcome mat.

            Tears threatened to claim Irina’s sight as she realized she was finally free, free from that dreadful hospital…and free from Kyle.

            “Hey.” Noah uttered, as he walked up behind Irina, but she didn’t seem to hear him. Noah moved to stand in front of her, and grabbed both her hands. “Hey look at me. Hey. It’s okay. Breathe.  We’re out now. Breathe.”

She stared at him for the longest of time, as he wiped the tears from her face, and tried to calm her down. Without thinking, she let her head fall onto his chest and she wrapped her arms around him. She felt his arms encircle her, as he tightened the hug.

“Thank you. I think I just needed to let everything sink in.” Irina whimpered.

“It’s okay. I don’t mind.” Noah responded.

They stayed like that for a while, until Irina finally broke the silence, “Umm, Noah?”

“Yeah?” Noah asked.

“This is really nice, but my leg really hurts.” she replied, slight amusement playing in her voice.

“Oh, uhh…right.” he said, as he released her from his embrace, and rubbed the back of his neck. “We should get that fixed up.”

            Noah pulled out a chair at the table for Irina to sit, and Irina stared in surprise before she said, “Oh, wow. thank you.”

            “Has no one held a chair out for you before?” Noah asked, confused.

            “Other than my brother, no.” Irina said, lowering herself into the chair with a chuckle.

Noah stitched Irina’s wound back up, and told her they needed to wait a few days before she could at least limp without straining the stitches again. Irina took a few of the ibuprofen they had found to lessen the pain, and the pair decided that she should take the couch, which turned into a bed, while Noah got the loft at the top of the ladder.

Later that night, Irina was lying on the sleeper-sofa, but had yet to get comfortable. They hadn’t been able to find any blankets, and the cold air streaming into the room made it almost impossible. She heard Noah coming down the ladder, and sat up.

“You okay?” Noah asked, clearly a little startled by her sudden movement.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just can’t sleep.” Irina replied.

“Why? Is it your leg?”  he requested, with concern on his face.

“No, my leg is fine. It’s just the cold, and the lack of blankets.” she explained.

“Oh. Well, here.” Noah said, as he took off his jacket and offered it to her. Again, Irina was taken aback. She really couldn’t believe that, after everything she had gone through with Kyle, she had managed to make it out of that place with a guy who was actually sweet, and caring. She had been so sure that she wouldn’t find that in anyone, but here was Noah, being as perfect as anyone could be.

            Irina reached out, took the jacket, and slipped it on. “How does it look?” she asked, jokingly, and she watched as Noah stared at her, and cleared his throat.

            “Umm, it looks…it looks better on you than it does on me, I think.” he replied, sheepishly.

            “Oh, well…thanks. I mean, thank you for letting me wear it.” Irina said, a slight blush covering her cheeks.

            “Uh, yeah. You’re welcome. I hope it helps.” Noah said, before he made his way back up to the loft.

            Irina settled back onto the bed, with a surprising giddiness fluttering in her chest, and a smile on her face. She wasn’t completely sure what she was feeling, but she knew that she liked it. She also knew that Noah’s jacket was wonderfully comfortable. She let her eyes flutter shut, and, for the first time in what felt like forever, she slept through the night with no problems.

            Irina and Noah had been at the cabin for a few days, and Irina’s leg was finally healed enough for her limp around. During the long days, they had discussed their plans to find her group, get Beth back, and then maybe try to find Noah’s family. It sounded difficult, but not impossible, and Irina had a strange hope that she hadn’t felt in a while.

            They had decided that it was time to head out, but Irina wanted to look around the cabin some, and see if she could find a new set of clothes. She was desperate to get out of her scrubs, and forget everything they reminded her of, and in one of the closets, she struck gold. She found a sepia-colored light leather jacket, light blue skinny jeans, a gray t-shirt, flat charcoal ankle-boots.

            She made her way inside the small bathroom, and looked into the full-length mirror on the back of the door. A smile swept over her face. She almost looked like her old self again, her old self…just with a few battle scars. She let her necklace roll around in her fingers, as she tried to figure out what felt wrong, and a sudden urge to put her hair up crawled into her veins. She had never been a huge fan of having her hair down. She searched through the cabinets and managed to find hair ties in a box. She settled on a bun, and went back to the closet where she had changed, grabbed Noah’s coat, and headed outside where he was waiting.

            Noah turned to look at her as she walked out of the cottage, and Irina watched as his eyes scanned her and his jaw dropped slightly.

            “You okay?” she asked, amused.

            “Huh? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. You look...wow.” He responded.

            Irina blushed, and handed him back his jacket. “Thank you. And, thank you for letting me borrow your jacket last night.”

            “You’re welcome.” he replied, and the pair began their journey to find Daryl.

            As they walked through the woods, they stumbled across a couple guns, and spent the time trying to get to know each other better. During a silent moment, Irina’s mind began buzzing with memories of killing Kyle. She had convinced herself that he deserved it, but that didn’t change the fact that he was the first human she had killed.

            “What are thinking?” Noah asked, breaking into her thoughts.

            She looked at him, and somewhere inside she knew that she could trust him. The next thing she knew, she was telling him what had really happened. When she finished, she took a deep breath, and scanned Noah’s face.

            After a short pause, Noah looked into her eyes and simply said, “You did what you had to do. You had no choice.”

            Irina stared at him as she processed what he said. She knew he was right, but a part of her didn’t want to accept it. She was sure it was just the guilt, but she felt like he was just saying it because he was her friend. After a moment, she forced herself to speak. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

            Suddenly, they heard growling sounds, and the pair turned to see a walker heading right for them. Adrenaline pumped through both of their veins, and Irina started walking toward the infected, but Noah stopped her. She frowned in confusion as she turned to look at him. “What are you doing?” she inquired.

            “You still have stitches, and I don’t think you should strain yourself if you don’t have to.” Noah replied, worry in his voice.

            “I strain it every time I walk anyway.” Irina said with a raised eyebrow.

            “Well, yeah but that’s not the same as you trying to fight.” he said.

            “And? It’s not like I haven’t dealt with pain before. Besides, it’s been resting for days, and it’s healed for the most part. You even said so back at the cabin.” Irina said with a knowing smirk.

            Noah sighed, clearly defeated. “Alright, go ahead, but if you get hurt…” he replied, but he was cut off by the sound of the groaning coming to a halt. He spun around, and saw the walker sprawled on the ground with a shiny knife burrowed into it’s head. He turned back to Irina as she limped over to it, and yanked the blade out.

            Irina glanced back with a smile, and gestured to her leg. “See, nothing.” 

            Before Noah had time to respond, they heard rustling in the bushes nearby. Irina lifted her knife, ready to fight, and Noah pulled out his pistol and took aim. Irina’s eyes widened with shock and glee, and she lowered her knife, as the shrubs were pushed aside to reveal a very familiar face. “Daryl?!”

            Irina watched Daryl’s shock fade into confusion as he said the only thing he could muster, “Irina? What the hell?!”


	31. Chapter Thirty

 

          Irina and Noah had followed Daryl back to the church where most of the group had been staying, but Irina’s heart dropped when she noticed that Glenn, Maggie, and Noemi weren’t there. Once they had filled everyone in on what had happened with Beth, they had managed to run into a couple of the guards from the hospital, and they had lead Rick, Daryl, Tyresse, Sasha, Noah, Alice, and Irina to go get Beth and Carol.

            Once they had arrived at the hospital, however, things hadn’t gone according to plan. Tears had filled Irina’s eyes as they were forced to give up Noah in exchange for Beth. The thought of sending him back to that place after everything he had done to get out, had been unbearable for her, but the feeling had only lasted a moment. In what felt like slow motion, Beth had decided to stab Dawn in her shoulder with a pair of tiny scissors, and in an instinctive moment, Dawn had shot Beth in the head. Everyone had watched, shell shocked, as Daryl, without a second thought, had put a bullet through Dawn’s skull.

            The next moments played out like a nightmare, as Daryl carried Beth out of the hospital with tears streaming down his face, only to see Maggie, followed by Glenn, Noemi, Michonne, and a few others that Irina hadn’t recognized, coming through the gates. Everyone had watched helplessly as Maggie had fallen to the ground, crying uncontrollably. Irina had run to Noemi, and pulled her into the biggest hug she could muster, her own tears staining her face.

            Once things had calmed down as much as they could, Noah had mentioned the place he used to call home. It was a small town with a barricade around it, and it wasn’t too far away. If his people were still there, they could help the group pull together, and if they were gone, there would at least be supplies. So, the group had decided to make the trek there, to see what they could see.

            As Irina and Noemi were walking and talking to Glenn, Irina kept glancing between Alice and Noah. Half of her wanted to see how Noah was holding up, he had been as close to Beth as she was, but the other half wanted to talk to her best friend, whom she hasn’t seen in, what felt like, forever. After an internal battle, she decided to talk to Alice first.  
            Irina slipped away, and made her way over to Alice. She motioned for Alice to follow her and the pair headed to the back of the group, but once they were alone, it was as if the recent events controlled their mouths. The silence was deafening, as both girls failed to form the right words.

            After the longest silence either girl had ever felt, Irina finally spoke. “So…how’ve you been?” As soon as the words left her mouth, she wished, more than anything, that she could pull them back in. They had both just watched their friend die, and here she was, asking stupid questions.

            “Seriously? That’s what ya decide go with?” Alice inquired, with a small chuckle, in obvious agreement with Irina’s inner struggle.

            Irina chuckled along with her. “Yeah, I know it’s not the best thing I could have said, but it was the first thing that came to mind.”

            “Well, that’s one thing about ya that’ll never change.” Alice smirked.

            “And, what’s that supposed to mean?” Irina asked.

            “That ya never were the one to strike up a conversation. It makes sense.” Alice explained, teasingly.

            “Oh, like you’re any better! I didn’t hear you jumping in to say anything.” Irina grinned.

            Alice looked up to the right as she thought, then looked back at her friend with a playful smile. “Touché.”

            “Seriously though, what have you been up to? Haven’t caused too much trouble, have you?” Irina smirked.

            “Surprisingly, no. It’s mostly been Carl getting us into trouble.” Alice replied, then she laughed as the voice of a certain teenage boy could be heard hollering from the front of the crowd.

            “I heard that!” Carl yelled.

            Alice rolled her eyes, looked to her friend, and yelled back to Carl. “So you’re denying the day we had the puddin’ then?” When Carl returned nothing but silence, she added, “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

            Irina raised an eyebrow at Alice’s words. “What is this about pudding?”

            “Oh, right.” Alice replied, before she explained what happened on that day.

            “All of that for a can of pudding?” Irina asked, unable to control her laughter.

            “Hey! It wasn’t just any can of pudding. It was an one hundred and twelve ounce can of pudding.” Alice beamed.

            Irina’s eyes bulged, and she playfully slapped her friend’s arm. “Shut up! You and Carl did not eat that much pudding!”

            “Oh, but we did.” Alice said confidently.

            “What flavor was it?” Irina asked curiously.

            “Chocolate!” Alice said with a huge smile.

            “Nice! My second favorite!” Irina exclaimed.

            “Second favorite, huh? What’s your favorite?” Alice asked.

            “Vanilla.” Irina replied.

            “Funny, that’s my second favorite.” Alice said.

With the small talk out of the way, Alice and Irina took turns filling each other in on what they had been through the last few months. Irina was astonished that there were people out there who wanted to eat other people, and the rage Alice felt for Kyle grew with every tidbit Irina shared. As Alice voiced her anger, she could see the melancholy in Irina’s face as she looked off into the distance, deep in thought.  
             

“What’s wrong?” Alice asked, her voice full of concern.

Irina snapped back into the moment, and asked in a hushed whisper, “Am I a murderer?”

       Alice’s eyebrows formed a frown, as it hit her that Irina never killed an actual person before. She and Alice had gone through the same turmoil, and it stunned Alice to hear the words she had so recently spoken. The only thing she could think of to comfort her friend, were the words her father had said to her when she was feeling the same way. “No, ya ain’t.” Alice replied, as she stopped walking, and placed her hands on Irina’s shoulders before she continued. “Irina, I know what you’re thinkin’ because I’ve been there. We have to survive out here. Killin’ a human doesn’t always mean the same thing it used to. Bein’ alive doesn’t mean a person is good, and from what I’m getting’ about Kyle, he was far from it. He was the evil one. What you did, that was survival. Understand?”

“Yeah, I understand. Noah said the same thing.” Irina replied, but her unsteady voice suggested that she still wasn’t sure.

“Noah?” Alice asked.

Irina let a small smile break through as she explained who Noah was, and what they had gone through to get where they were. After a moment, Irina noticed Alice was giving her a strange smile. “What?” she asked, as she cocked her head to the side.

“Oh nothing. Just thinkin’ how sweet it was for him to bring ya back to your group before going back to his home.” Alice smirked.

            Irina blushed as the realization of what her best friend was suggesting washed over her. “Wait, what?! No! I…it’s nothing like that! We’ve just been through a lot, and he’s just a nice guy. He always puts others first.”

            “Uh huh. That’s what I always said about Carl. Now look at us.” Alice reasoned.

            “That’s different! Noah and I are just friends!” Irina clarified.

            “Funny, I remember sayin’ that, too.” Alice said with a chuckle.

            Before Irina could argue any further, Noemi came up beside them. “Hey guys! What are you doing?”

            “Uh, nothing. What’s up?” Irina inquired.

            “Oh, Glenn was wondering where you went.” Noemi explained.

            “Ah, okay! Tell him I’m coming.” Irina told her younger sister, before turning back to Alice and pointing at her. “And you! This isn’t over!”

            “What? Me teasin’ you about your new boyfriend? Far from it.” Alice smirked.

            “I…you…” Irina trailed off, unable to form a retort. “Ugh! I’ll talk to you later!”

            “Later, as in…after you talk to your boyfriend?” Alice taunted playfully.

            “Shut it, Dixon!” Irina hollered as her face flushed. As she made her way back to where her brother and sister were, her eyes shifted to Noah, and she realized, she had never thanked Noah for everything he had done for her.

            Without thinking it through, her feet began to move in Noah’s direction, and she found herself walking next to him. “Hey.”

            “Oh, hey. What’s up? Am I next on the list?” Noah asked with a small smile.

            “Huh?” Irina asked, confused.

            “I saw you with Alice earlier. I figured you were making the rounds.” he clarified.

            “Oh, right. Well, I just wanted to say thank you.” Irina replied.

            “For?” he asked.

            “For…everything. If you hadn’t helped me out of that hospital, I could be buried back there right now, too.” Irina replied.

            “It was nothing, really. I was just doing what I thought was right. It wouldn’t have been fair to leave you guys there.” Noah said.

            Irina smiled warmly at his words. “Still, thank you. I don’t know where I’d be right now if I hadn’t met you.” Her attention drifted as she saw Noemi going past her, and she called after her sister. “Noemi?”

            “What?” Noemi asked, as she stopped to face her.

            “Where are you going?” Irina inquired.

            “To see if Abraham will give me another piggy-back ride!” Noemi explained.

            “Who is Abraham?” Irina asked, puzzled.

            “That’s him over there.” Noemi replied as she pointed at an extremely large, intimidating, Scottish-looking redneck. She must have noticed the uneasiness on Irina’s face because, with a small wave, she added, “Oh, don’t worry! He’s nice…and funny! He let me ride in the front of his car when I had a sprained ankle!”

            “I see. Well, you go do that, I guess.” Irina managed to utter.

            “Okay, see you later!” Noemi said, and she beamed as she skipped off to her friend.

            Irina looked at Noah, slightly baffled by what had just happened.

            “You just now noticed him?” Noah asked with a chuckle.

            “Uh, kind of. It’s been a long day.” Irina replied.

            “I know. It seems never-ending.” he said.  
            “Well, hopefully we’ll get to your community soon, and everything will slow down a little.” Irina said, as she looked up and realized that her brother was still waiting for her. “Hey, I’m going to head up to Glenn. Talk to you in a bit.”

      When Irina reached Glenn, he kept trying to get her to talk about what had happened to her, but she wasn’t ready to explain it all to him yet. There was still a huge part of her that worried that he would think she was evil, and she couldn’t handle that. Not from him. So, they walked on in silence until they reached Noah’s old home, which was destroyed and trashed.

            Irina watched as Noah refused to give up, and ran up ahead of them. Everyone begged for him to stop, to just wait, but he wouldn’t listen. Tyreese was the one to chase after him.   
            “Alright. Let’s split up and see what’s what.” Rick said once the two were out of sight.

            In minutes, everyone had spilt up into groups to look around the abandoned town. Carl, who was carrying Judith, was with Michonne, and Rick. Alice had gone with Daryl and Father Gabriel. Noemi was with Glenn and Tara. Abraham, Sasha, and Rosita had formed a group, which had left Irina and Maggie together.

            The pair were in a pale house with five bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a dining area. Three of the rooms, and a bathroom were downstairs, and a staircase led to the rest.

            The two girls had separated to cover more ground. Maggie was handling the upstairs, and Irina had the downstairs. Irina had checked both rooms, but found nothing. As she entered the bathroom, she could hear gurgling sounds coming from the bathtub, and she pulled the curtain back to reveal the upper half of a walker. Quickly, she pulled out her knife and jammed it into the walker’s head. After checking the rest of the bathroom, she decided to head upstairs.

            She found Maggie sitting on a neon pink and purple French-style bed, staring down at a large black disk with a melancholic expression. Worried, she sat down next to her slowly, and turned her head to look at the disk. It had a small, circular picture of a redheaded woman wearing a white turtle neck in the middle. Beside the women was the name Reba, and on the bottom of it were the words, “I am a Survivor.”

            “Beth loved this album. She used to sing it all the time.” Maggie said, the sadness evident in her voice.

            Irina tilted her head to the side as she glanced back at the disk. “What’s it about?”

            “About Reba’s life. About how she was born prematurely and barely made it. Her growin’ up and havin’ a husband who eventually leaves her and how it didn’t stop her because she was strong.” Maggie replied.

            Irina couldn’t help but smile. The story did kind of remind her of Beth, and how strong she was. Even with everything Irina had gone through, Beth did something she didn’t think she could have ever done. She had stayed behind in that hellhole, so that she and Noah could escape. Irina would have rather died than been stuck there.

            “Heh. Sounds like Beth.” Irina smiled softly. As a silence fell between the two, Irina’s mind wandered back to that last moment with Beth. She couldn’t help wondering if there had been something she missed, something that she could have done to save her. She snapped back to the present, and looked at Maggie. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve gone back for her.”

            Maggie shifted to face her, and took her hands. “Irina, it’s not your fault. There was no way you could’ve known what was going to happen.”

            “I could’ve tried harder than I did.” Irina murmured as she glanced away from Maggie’s gaze.

            “Hey, look at me.” Maggie stated, waiting for Irina to comply before she continued. “I don’t want to hear you blamin’ yourself. You came to us, with an injured leg, and told us where she was. Honey, you went back for her. That was more than most people would’ve done.”

            Irina scanned Maggie’s face. She knew that what she said made sense. She did everything she could, so she couldn’t figure out why she still felt so guilty. Then, a thought occurred to her. Maybe it had more to do with Kyle than it did Beth. Maybe that was the guilt she couldn’t get rid of, and it was spilling over into everything else. Before she could stop herself, she heard the words spilling from her lips. “Have you ever killed anyone before? A human?”

            Irina watched as Maggie studied her face. She let her left hand fall from her sister-in-law’s and fumbled with the trinket around her neck. Thinking of Jenny instantly calmed her.

            Finally, Maggie spoke. “Well, it depends. I…” her words were cut short by shouting from downstairs. Irina immediately recognized the voice as Noah, and ran out of the room, with Maggie following behind her.

            “Noah, what’s wrong?” Irina asked, worried by the terror on his face.

            “It’s Tyreese! He’s been bitten!” Noah exclaimed.

            In an instant, Irina and Maggie ran after him. They met up with the rest of the group, and quickly ran to the house where Noah had left Tyreese. Irina gasped when she saw him. He was covered in a blanket of sweat, and his arm was covered in blood.

            Alice and Irina glanced at each other in shock as Rick took charge. Shouting out ordered, he and Glenn grabbed ahold of Tyreese’s bloody arm, and in one swipe of Michonne’s sword, it was separated from his body. Without a second to waste, Rick, Glenn, Noah, and Michonne picked him up, and carried him through the town as they tried to get him to the van that they left in the woods before setting out on foot. Alice and Irina ran after them, hoping they could save their friend.

            However, once they got to the entrance of Noah’s old community, the sound of walker groans rang out from the other side, and as soon as Glenn and Michonne opened the gate, walkers poured inside. Alice and Irina ran to help them, machete and knife in hand. Out of the corner of Irina’s eye, she saw Rick had joined in the fight, and instantly look to see who was taking care of Tyreese. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw Noah with him. She turned back to the fight, to find herself face to face with a walker. Surprised, Irina took a step back, tripped and fell over. As the walker fell on top of her, she tried to grip her knife, but before she could use it, the tip of a blade had pierced right through the walker’s head.

            Irina looked up, and saw Alice, smiling, as she reached out for her. “Hey, need a hand?”

            Irina took her hand, and Alice hauled her up, then yanked her knife out of the walker’s head. Seconds later, Rick took out the last walker, and along with him, Glenn, Michonne, and Noah carried Tyreese through the woods. As the ran, a sinking feeling fell over the entire group. They could all see that their friend had already lost a large amount of blood, and his skin was a sickening, ashy color.

            Only feet from the van, Tyreese’s foot got caught in-between two wires, and of course a walker was right on their heels. Alice swiftly killed it, while Irina helped her brother get Tyreese unstuck, and once they did, they rushed to the van. Noah, Irina, and Alice went to the backseat, and filed inside in that order. They helped pull, as Glenn pushed Tyreese in.

            It felt like an eternity had passed before, despite their efforts, Noah looked over and announced that Tyreese was gone. The van slowed to a halt, and the group climbed out. They dug a hole for their friend, and wrapped him in a large white cloth. Everyone took turns dumping dirt on his corpse out of respect, and the worst sadness of all, was watching Sasha be the last one to bury her brother.

            While everyone discussed what to do next, Alice went to talk to Carl, and Irina looked over at Noah, who was standing off on his own. His expression was melancholic and guilt-ridden. Irina walked over to him, trying to decide what to say, but as she reached him, all she could think of to do was greet him. “Hey.”

            “Huh? Oh, hey.” Noah responded, then returned his gaze to the ground.

            A long pause followed, as Irina studied her friend’s face, and realized what his look meant. “It’s not your fault.” She said, breaking the silence.

            “What?” Noah asked as he turned to face her.

            “Tyreese’s death. It’s not your fault.” she repeated.

            “But, if I had been there with him, or hell, if I had just not run off at all, he wouldn’t have been bitten.” He pointed out.

            “How do you know that?” she inquired.

            “I…” Noah began, but his words trailed off.

            “Exactly, you don’t. You needed to go there because of your family. Tyreese would never fault, or blame you for that. You did what you had to do. There was no way you could have known that it would cost someone their life.” Irina said with a small smile, as she returned the words of comfort that Noah had once shared with her.

            Noah’s expression softened as realization hit him. “I know. You’re right. Even in the short time I knew him, it was pretty obvious he would have understood. He was one of the good ones. It just sucks.”

            “Will you be okay?” Irina asked with a reassuring smile, and her hand on his shoulder.

            “Yeah, I think so.” Noah replied.

            “Okay, let’s head back to the group, then.” Irina stated, as she pulled her hand back.

            Clouded with sadness, and with no real idea of where they were headed, the group started to walk. They knew that they needed to find food and water if they were going to make it.

            As they made their way down the long road to nowhere, Alice noticed that her father had disappeared. She asked almost everyone if they had seen her father, but no one had. As she looked around, trying not to worry, she noticed that Irina was talking to Noah. No matter how in denial Irina was, Alice could tell that there was something there, and she knew, from experience, that it was only a matter of time before Irina and Noah would also see it.

            When they had found nothing, the group decided to take a break, and they sat on the side of the road, as exhaustion and hunger overwhelmed them. Alice sat down next to Carl, who was holding a wrapped-up Judith, and Irina sat by Glenn and Tara, while Noemi sat down by Abraham.

            After what felt like hours, Alice finally saw her father walk out of the trees across from the group. Despite her sore legs, her parched throat, and hunger grumbling in her stomach, she ran over to him with a sigh of relief. “Hey! Where’d ya go? I was worried!”

            “I…uh, I needed some air.” Daryl said hurriedly.

            Alice’s eyebrows knitted in confusion. She knew something was wrong with her father, but she could see in his eyes that he obviously wasn’t ready to talk about whatever it was, so she decided to let it go, at least for that moment. She smiled softly, and simply said, “Okay.”

            As the pair made their way to sit with the rest of the group, they were stopped in their tracks by rustling from the nearby bushes. Everyone looked in the direction of the sounds, and pulled out their weapons. With guns, knives, a sword, and a machete aimed at whatever was coming, all of them were taken aback when a pack of growling dogs, of different breeds, emerged.

            Everyone exchanged looks that said they knew what they had to do, but no one wanted to be the one to make the ultimate decision. Suddenly, loud bangs rang out, and they all looked over to see Sasha, gun in hand, staring at the dogs she had just shot. After a brief discussion, it became obvious that, their desperation for food far outweighed anyone’s objection to eating the dead dogs. While the canines were being cut up, Sasha went to go get some wood for a fire, and the dogs were cooked, and eaten silence.

Time seemed to drag on as the group continued their trek to nowhere. The sky had darkened into a dark ash gray, and thunder began to roll. Then, as everyone stared up in disbelief, rain began to fall. The group hadn’t had more than one bottle of water between them in days, and as the water poured over them, they began to laugh. In unison, they opened their mouths, and let the rain water flow down their throats, but just as suddenly as it had started, the rain became harder, and harder. It turned into a massive storm, and everyone knew they needed to find shelter until it passed.

Alice watched in surprise as her father announced that he found a barn.

“Where?!” Rick shouted, as Daryl motioned for the group to follow.

The group waited outside as Rick, Carol, and Maggie checked out the barn, and cleared it of walkers. Once inside, the group made themselves comfortable as the storm raged on.  
            Daryl started a fire, and everyone crowded around it. Carl had fallen asleep with Judith in his arms, and Noemi followed close behind. Alice let her mind wander as she stared into the fire. It seemed like yesterday that she thought her father was gone forever, and she had met Irina and Noemi in that hotel. Her eyes drifted to Irina, sitting next to Glenn, and she thought about how far they had come, and how much she had shown them back when they were so used to being taken care of by Jenny that they didn’t even know how to fight. Now here they all were, sitting with their families, having formed one big collective one. She thought about Jenny, how proud she would be of all of them, and she wished, more than anything, that she could be there with them.

Alice snapped back to reality when she heard talking.

“I’ll try.” Glenn said.

Daryl poked the wood engulfed in flames with another small twig before he stated, “The sticks are too wet.”

Alice glanced at Rick, and noticed that he was watching Carl sleep.

“He's going to be okay. He bounces back. More than any of us do.” Carol said, as everyone turned to look at her.

“I used to feel sorry for kids that have the grow up now. In this. But, I think I got it wrong. Growing up is getting used to the world. This is easier for them.” Rick replied.

“This isn't the world. This isn't it. It can't be.” Michonne retorted tiredly.

“It might be. It might.” Glenn argued.

“That's giving up.” Michonne claimed.

“That's reality.” Glenn debated.

Alice couldn’t help but see both sides. This dead, infested world didn’t give second chances often, and sometimes it seemed easier to accept it, than to fight, but she, Irina, and Noemi had been a few of the lucky ones. They had gotten their second chances, and they were back with the people they loved. She could honestly say that the opinion she had about the world could change at the turn of a dime. Everyone had to deal in their own way.

“Until we see otherwise, this is what we have to live with.” Rick interrupted, and was a thick silence filled the air, until he finally spoke again. “When I was a kid...I asked my grandpa once if he ever killed any Germans in the war. He wouldn't answer. He said that was grown-up stuff, so...so I asked if the Germans ever tried to kill him, but he got real quiet. He said he was dead the minute he stepped into enemy territory. Every day, he woke up and told himself ‘Rest in Peace. Now get up and go to war.’ And then, after a few years of pretending he was dead...he made it out alive. That's the trick of it, I think. We do what we need to do, and then we get to live. But, no matter what we find in DC, I know we'll be okay. Because this is how we survive. We tell ourselves…that we are the walking dead.”

Alice was mesmerized by Rick’s speech, and she looked around the rest of the group to gauge their reactions. Her eyes came to rest on Irina and Noah. Irina had her head on his shoulder with her eyes half closed as she tried to stay awake. Alice smirked at how adorable the sight was, and couldn’t wait until the two of them finally realized their feelings and found their way together.

Out of the silence, Daryl suddenly interjected, and snapped a twig in half as he adamantly said, “We ain't them.”

Rick made his way over to where Daryl was sitting, crouched down next to him, and placed a hand on his shoulder. Then, with determination in his voice, he said, “We're not them.”

Alice watched as Rick tried to get through to her father. “Hey.” Rick called out to him again, and when Daryl finally turned to look at him, he continued. “We're not.”

Daryl threw the stick he was messing with into the fire, stood up, and before he stormed off, he said again, “We ain't them.”

Alice watched her father walk away, and she listened to the roar of thunder that seemed to agree with his statement. She wasn’t sure where they were going to go once the storm let up, but she knew one thing for sure, she was with the people she wanted to be with, and she had a feeling that, soon enough, they would all find the place where they were supposed to make their life together. It was just a matter of when.


	32. Chapter Thirty-One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you start this chapter. I'd just like to warn you that there is going to be a new character introduced. That's why this chapter may seem a bit odd compared to the others.

_Epilogue_

 

                Twenty-six-year-old Willow was startled awake by a determined knock on her door. Groggy, she called out, “Yeah?!”

     Her door swung open, and her younger sister, with her long brown hair in a ponytail and bowl of cereal in her hand, walked in. “Aaron is here. Wants to see you.” Enid said, shoving a spoon full of Frosted Flakes into her mouth.

     “Shit, it’s Thursday. I totally overslept!” Willow exclaimed, as she jumped out of bed, grabbed a brush, and started running it through her layered, shagged, reddish-brown hair. Willow looked at Enid, “Tell Aaron he can come back here.” She said, as she grabbed a shirt from her drawer and walked across the room to the closet.

“Sure.” was all Enid said, before taking another bite and leaving the room.

      “You overslept, huh?” Aaron said, amusement in his voice.

         “You don’t know me.” Willow replied.

    “Will, the only person here that knows you better than me is your sister. Like, I know you well enough to

know that you’re having a mental breakdown because you can’t find your jacket.” Aaron said.

Willow looked at him, surprised. “How the hell do you know that?”

     Aaron laughed, pulled his right hand out from behind his back, and revealed Willow’s favorite leather jacket. “Because you left it at our place last night. Eric was going to bring it over as soon as we noticed, but I told him it’d be more fun for me to watch you freak for a minute today.”

    Willow reached out, grabbed her jacket with her left hand, and playfully punched Aaron in the arm with her right. “You’re an ass. Why do I even put up with you?” she asked.

    “For the same reason Eric does, you guys love me. Admit it, this world would suck without me.” Aaron replied with a smirk.

    “Yeah, well, your boyfriend has more of an obligation to continue loving you than I do. Jerk.” Willow said, as she threw on her tank top and jeans, put her gun holster around her thigh, and slipped into her jacket. “Who all is going on this scouting mission?”

    “Just you, me, and Eric. I told Deanna and Reg that we could handle it.” Aaron replied.

     Willow grabbed her gun, put it in her holster, and turned to Aaron. “Did Eric…” she began.

     Aaron cut in without missing a beat, “…make breakfast? Yep. It’s already on the table. See? I know you too well.” he smirked.

     “Ugh. You’re a pain. Let’s go.” she replied.

Willow hugged Enid on her way out of the door. “Don’t forget to check in with Jessie while I’m gone.”

       Enid huffed as she rolled her eyes. With an annoyed look, she said, “You were serious about that? I can handle myself, you know! I don’t need a babysitter! We’re behind giant walls!”

      Willow looked at her sister, irritated, but trying to stay calm. “Walls you constantly feel the need to climb over and run off. Yeah, I know about that. Look, I would just feel more comfortable if you checked in with her, okay? I know you’re capable of handling yourself, but you and I know what’s out there, and how dangerous the world can be now. I really need to not have to worry about you running off and putting yourself in danger while I’m gone. Okay?”

       Enid huffed again. “Ugh, fine. Whatever.”

“Thank you!” was all Willow said before she closed the door and headed for Aaron’s house. “That girl drives me crazy sometimes! Hey Eric.” Willow added, as Aaron opened the door.

“Enid again?” Eric asked.

    Willow sat down at the table in the kitchen, and pulled a plate with an omelet towards her. “Who else?” she said, adding, “This looks amazing, Eric. Thanks.”

     Eric smiled and said, “You’re welcome. I figured we could eat, grab the rest of our supplies, and head out. Are we still planning on heading south this time?”

     Willow didn’t even look up from her food, but managed to say, “Yep. Sounds good. Seriously, Eric, this is fantastic.” It was only a few more minutes before they were driving through the giant gates that kept their community safe.

       They had been on the road for four days. Their goal was to find others like them, still living, able to be brought back to the safe-zone, and within the first day they had found a group. They had been trailing them for about a day and a half. There were eight males, two of which looked to be about mid-teens to very young adult, nine females, three of them seemed to also be teens, and a baby. They all seemed strong, capable, and they definitely took care of each other. Willow, Aaron, and Eric had all agreed that they were worth approaching, and they were planning on doing it today.

      Willow was riding in an RV, while Aaron and Eric drove a car up ahead of her. All of the sudden, Willow saw the car’s brake lights and pulled up on the side of the road behind them. Eric rolled his window down as Willow walked up to the car, “Hey, I think that’s a service station up ahead. I bet they have water. We should stop and check it out.”

      Willow looked ahead, and saw what looked like the station, and next to it, a warehouse of some kind, and a few other buildings. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Let’s pull in and see if there is anything we can use.”

    They rolled up to the front of the station, and Willow realized it was quiet, but something felt really off. Eric walked around, between the station and the warehouse, and said, as low and steady as he could, “Get back to the cars, there’s a whole group of infected over here.”

    Willow and Aaron started to turn back, but as they did, they heard Eric cry out. Whirling around to see what had happened, Willow saw Eric on the ground, clutching his ankle. She and Aaron ran over to him, and pulled him off toward the warehouse to get him out of sight.

“What happened?” Aaron asked.

“I’m an idiot. I was backing up and fell. I think I snapped my ankle.” Eric replied, his face flushed with embarrassment.

“Do you think you can you walk at all?” Willow asked.

    Eric tried to stand, but it was useless. “You guys go on ahead. I’ll hang here. Finish the plan. See if you can get them to understand what we have going on back home. Come back for me when you’re done.” Aaron’s eyes got wide and he started to object, but Eric cut in again. “Aaron, I’ll be fine. There’s no use in carrying me around.”

      Willow looked around, and noticed that, if they could create a distraction and led the infected away, this would be a pretty safe place for Eric to stay until they made it back. “He’s right, Aaron. It’ll cause more problems than it’ll solve if we try to carry him with us. Let’s find something to get the infected away from here, and we’ll get back to him as soon as we can. He’ll be okay.” she said. She could tell that Aaron still wasn’t happy about it, but he knew they were right. She found an empty, metal trash can, went over to the car, and opened the trunk. Reaching in, she pulled out a set of sparklers that she always brought with her, just in case. They were perfect. The infected had a natural draw to anything bright or loud, which she had found out before she and Enid managed to find the safe-zone, while they were still out there on their own.

    Willow placed the trashcan about sixty feet away, in an area of the warehouse that had a door she could close, and as she opened the package, she motioned for Aaron to make sure he and Eric were out of the way. She threw the sparklers into the trashcan, and almost instantly, the infected started to move. They walked right into the room, and stood, staring at the trashcan as Willow slipped through the door, closed it, and made sure it was secure.

     Aaron kissed Eric goodbye, told him that they would be back soon, then he and Willow took off for where they knew the group was heading, Willow still in the RV and Aaron in the car. It wasn’t long before they pulled over again, and hopped out of their vehicles. A storm had hit the night before, and it was obvious that the they wouldn’t be able to drive through, so they decided to leave the car and RV where they were, and approach the group on foot. Willow figured they would seem like less of a threat that way anyway. This wasn’t her first scouting mission, and she knew it was never easy to get people to trust them. Having gone through what she had before finding the safe-zone, she knew she wouldn’t instantly trust anyone either.

     The group had taken shelter in an old barn, and Willow and Aaron held back a little, planning their course of action. As they contemplated the best way to approach everyone, two of the women walked outside, and sat down near a tree. Willow looked at Aaron, and lifted an eyebrow. “Should we try talking to them first?”

    Aaron eyed the women before he replied. “Seems smart. Maybe if we can get them to trust us, it’ll make it easier with the rest of the group.” With that, they made their way over to them.

    “Hey…hi. Umm, we didn’t mean to interrupt.” Aaron said, as the two women pulled out their guns, and took aim. He and Willow instinctively put their hands up, and Aaron added, “Good morning. My name is Aaron, and this is Willow.” Willow waved her right hand a little, while Aaron continued, “I know, stranger danger, but we’re friends. We’d like to talk to the person in charge. Rick, right?”

The two women looked shocked, “…how did you know…?” the first said, while the other added, “…why?”

    Aaron looked at the two women, who were unaware that he and Willow had been following them for days, and that they knew their names, and simply said, “We have good news.” From over on the tree where the two had been sitting, a music box started to play, and all four of them looked at it, puzzled.

    Willow decided it was her turn to try to get through to them. “Look, I know this seems strange. Honestly, I’d have a difficult time trusting two people who walked up out of nowhere, too. But, it’s true. We have good news. We have a camp. Less than half a day’s drive from here. It’s protected, and it’s a real community. We think your group would be a real asset there, plus, there’s the added benefit that you would be safe.”

Maggie and Sasha looked at her, and she could see that, through the skepticism, there was a glimmer of hope. “Why should we trust you?” Maggie asked.

    Willow looked at her, trying to figure out what the most effective way of earning her trust would be, and that’s when it hit her. “Here.” she said, taking her gun out of its holster, and tossing it on the ground near Maggie. Aaron followed her lead and put his on the ground, as Willow spoke again. “You can take our weapons. Our bags. We have nothing to hide, and no reason to keep anything that would make you think we might want to hurt you.”

Maggie and Sasha looked stunned. “You’re serious?” Maggie asked, as she lowered her gun.

    “Completely. I know it sounds unbelievable. When I first found the safe-zone with my sister, we were just as skeptical as you are, but we had been out here, on our own, for too long. We were doing things we weren’t really proud of, things we had to do just to survive, and honestly, we were tired. So, we were cautious, but we gave it a chance, and I’m glad we did. There’s only so long you can be out here alone before you start to become someone you don’t want to be.”

Sasha looked at Willow, with a look that showed that she completely understood how that felt, and she lowered her gun too. She shot Maggie a look, and Maggie said, “Alright. We’ll take ya’ll in, but just a fair warning, it might be a hard road to get them to listen.”

“Thank you.” Willow said, before everyone made their way to the barn.

     Maggie wasn’t kidding. The group, especially Rick, was not easy to win over. In fact, Willow and Aaron were tied up, waiting with Rick, and a few others from the group, for Michonne, Glenn, Maggie, Abraham, and Rosita to come back to the barn and confirm that they did, in fact, have the vehicles they said they did. Almost as soon as they had gotten into the barn, and started to explain the community, explain that there really was only one other person with them, and show the few photos that they had of the place, Rick had punched Aaron, and tied them both up. Willow understood, she really did. It wasn’t an easy thing to believe. Somewhere safe, somewhere self-sufficient, in a world like this, it seemed impossible.

Willow looked around the barn, and to her left, about three feet away, she noticed that one of the girls, Irina, had a vacant expression on her face. “Hey, you alright? You seem kind of out of it.”

Irina looked up, surprised, “You’re the one tied up, and you’re asking me if I’m okay?” she asked.

     Willow’s face broke into a small smile. “I know. It’s the plight of an older sister. My little sister is about your age. You seemed upset. It’s just an instinct, I guess.”

Irina smiled a little, she couldn’t help but think that Jenny would have done the same thing. Scooting a little closer, she said, “I’m fine. I just went through something a little while ago, and it was kind of on my mind.”

Willow tilted her head a little, and asked, “Something? How bad was it?”

      Irina didn’t know why, but she felt oddly comfortable with Willow, and before she knew it, or had time to analyze the situation, she was telling her everything that had happened at the hospital. “I was taken, with my friend Beth, Maggie’s sister, to this hospital. These crazy people ran it, and had like, a work camp thing going on, I guess. Anyway, while I was there, this guy took me up to a floor by myself and kept me there. He tried to do all kinds of stuff, but I fought him off. I ended up, kind of, killing him.”

     Irina looked up, expecting Willow to look disgusted by her admission, but what she saw on her face wasn’t even close to disgust. Willow took a deep breath, looked Irina in the eyes, and said, “What he did to you, the things you fought off…it sounds like you did what you had to. Sometimes, there’s no other way. It doesn’t make you a bad person. He was a bad person. It makes you a survivor. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

    Irina fought back a few tears. Hearing it from someone that barely knew her, someone that she knew wasn’t just saying it to make her feel better, it was different. Maybe they were all right. She didn’t have a choice. “Th-thank you. I’m ummm, I’m sorry you’re tied up. These really are good people. We’ve just all been through a lot.”

“I know. I’ve been where you guys are. I get it.” Willow said with an understanding smile.

    Over in the corner of the barn, Irina and Willow heard a noise, looked over, and noticed that Alice and Carl had heard most of their conversation. Walking over to them, Alice said, “I’ve been tryin’ to tell her that. You’re alright. Willow, right?”

Willow nodded, “Yep. You guys are alright, too. Like I said, I get the caution. I don’t blame Rick for wanting to protect his people.”

    Carl looked a little surprised, even he didn’t fully understand his dad’s overreaction, but Willow seemed to. “Like Irina said, we’ve been through a lot, and my dad has a hard time trusting people. You do seem like good people though, so, I’m sorry you’re tied up, too.” With that, the trio walked off, leaving Willow and Aaron alone again.

    Suddenly, the baby, Judith, started crying. She was obviously hungry. “There is applesauce in my bag.” Aaron said, and they both watched as Rick walked over to the bag, pulled out the applesauce, put some on a spoon, and walked back, putting the spoon in Aaron’s face. Aaron looked at Rick, almost shocked, and said, “You really think I’m trying to poison a baby? Look, I’m tied up, you have our weapons, the only thing that something like that would do is make this situation worse.”

Rick kept the spoon at Aaron’s mouth, and said, “For all I know, you want to make her sick so you’re the only one that can help her. Here.”

     Aaron looked at the spoon. “I hate applesauce. My mom used to make me eat foods I didn’t like to make me more manly. Salmon patties, applesauce, and onions. She was a very confused woman. I just brought it to show you that we have apple trees nearby…”

Willow, who couldn’t stand to see her best friend upset, broke in, “Look, I’ll do it! Give me the damn spoon.” Rick gave her the spoon, and Willow took the bite, without hesitation.

“Thank you.” Aaron said, looking at her, then turning to Rick, added, “Our community is big. Big enough that we could find you somewhere to live. Somewhere that, no matter how loud she cries, no one outside of those walls will be able to get to her.”

      While Rick looked at Judith, taking in what Aaron had said, the others showed back up, telling him that the cars were there, just like Willow and Aaron had said they would be. Rick looked at his group, and the food that they had brought back with them from the RV, then he looked at Willow and Aaron, and said, “This is ours now.”

Aaron took a breath, “There’s more than enough.” he replied.

Then Rick added, “Even if we don’t go with you, it’s ours now.”

     Carl chimed in, a little upset, “What? Why wouldn’t we go?” With that, and little convincing from Michonne, Abraham, Glenn, and Maggie, and with Rick feeling a little out-voted, it was finally decided that they would go with Willow and Aaron to see what their camp was all about.

     After arguing over which way to take, Aaron and Willow said they should go North on Highway 16 because they had already cleared that route, but Rick, thinking that was a trap, decided they were going to take Highway 23, they had a huge run in with a group of infected on the road, and in the process, got separated from half of the group, and saw a flare that they assumed was set off by Eric. Once they made it through the infected, somehow won Glenn’s trust enough to be untied, and got back onto Highway 16, they made their way back to where they had left Eric. When they finally got there, they were met by the rest of Rick’s group who had already made it by following the flare. They were relieved to find out that Maggie had set Eric’s ankle back into place. They all agreed that they had gone through enough for one night, and decided to sleep there, and continue to the safe-zone the next day.

    The group headed out for Alexandria the next morning, with Rick, Michonne, and Judith riding in a car, and everyone else in the RV. Willow and Aaron were in the back on the RV with Eric, who was sleeping from the pain meds they had put him on. Noah popped into the room, with water and a bottle of pills in his hand, and asked how Eric was doing. “He’s okay. I know it’s probably time for another dose, but I wanted to let him sleep until we got home.”

Noah held up the pills and water, “These are for you two. I know how much those hurt.” he said, pointing to the marks on their wrists from being tied up.

“Oh, thanks.” Aaron replied, then added as Noah left the room, “Your leg? That happen before?”

Noah explained what had happened with his dad right before he was taken to the hospital where he was held.

It was Willow’s turn to speak up, “Irina told me a little about that place. You two are really strong to have survived all that happened there. You’re lucky to have each other.”

Noah smiled a small smile, “Yeah. I guess we are.” he said, as he went back to the front of the RV, just in time for it to stall.

    Finally, after watching Glenn replace the battery in the RV, they had made it to the safe-zone. No one, except maybe Michonne, knew what had convinced Rick to go inside the walls, but Willow was just glad that something had. Once everyone was ready, they made their way in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's all for Daughter of the Crossbow! Man, it sure was a fun ride rewriting this. I can't wait to get started on that sequel!


End file.
